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THE 
MOST REMARKABLE 

TYPES, FIGURES, 

AND 

ALLEGORIES 

OF THE 
OLD TESTAMENT. 



By the Rev. Mr. WILLIAM M'EWEN, 
Late Minister of the Gospel in Dundee. 



r»t«^V r>W^ ■ -*k£U: 



D ANBURY: 

Prmted by Stiles Nichols, 
For J. Tr.ovbri.oVe, D. B. and A. Coo^e, M. B. Whittlesey, 
R. arc! J. P White, S. Opa stock, E W. Bull, J, Claik, jun* 
F. Scofiejd, Z. Griswok!, and S. Nichols. 

1803* 



0\b^ 



\* 






THE 
PREFACE. 

THE reader is desired to take notice that 
the grand doctrines of Christianity, concerning the 
mediation of Christ, and the inestimable blessings 
of his purchase, were typically manifested to the 
church, by a variety of ceremonies, persons, and 
events, under the Old-Testament dispensation. 

The following treatise is intended for the edi- 
fication of those who have obtained precious faith. 
Such persons it will not be difficult to persuade* that 
the law exhibited the shadow of good things to 
come, but the bodv is of Christ.* 

In order to settle the proper limits of allegorical 
interpretation, two things must be observed, Firsts 
To make a proper divine allegory, type, or figure, it 
is necessarily required that there be a resemblance, 
less or more, betwixt the literal hist oiy, person, or 
thing, and the spiritual doctrine, truth, or mystery, 
which is supposed to be represented. Secondly, 
There must be some good reason to think that this 
resemblance is not merely casual, or the child of 
fancy, but actually intended by the Holy Ghost. 

In this age of disputes, it must doubtless be a 
considerable recommendation of a performance, 
when the reader is informed, that while the author 
discovers the most zealous attachment to the cause- 



Co?, H, 17. See Tfeeron and Aspasia, Dialogue 3« 

A 2 






PREFACE. 

bruffi, and appears a devoted' champion of tkt 
evangelical doctrines, he is careful not to lay a dis- 
proportionate stress upon any thing by which one 
Christian rnay be distinguished from another. ^Pro- 
fessing christians agreeing in laying Jesus Christ 
the one and only foundation of present holiness and 

ffe happiness., are not here taught or stirred uo- 
to bite and devour cne another* No oil is here ad- 
ministered to increase the flame, or keep awake the 
conflagration of animosity and dispute, which have 
so long and so sadly disturbed the peace, and hin- 
dered the union of the professed friends of the truth 
as it is in Jesus; nor are any problematical ques- 
tions here determined with authoritative airs, that 
may be a new bone of contention in the church. 

The conciseness, the propriety, the energy, with 
which the several important and interesting subjects 
here taken into consideration are treated, will, it is 
presumed, both entertain and edify the intelligent 
reader ; delight his taste ; inform his judgment ; 
improve his heart ; and direct his practice. 

May the God of oil grace follow the piece with 

his special blessing, give it an extensive spread, 

make it subservient to the glorious cause of 

evangelical truth, real holiness, and christian* 

charity. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



TYPES, FIGURES, ALLEGORIES, &e* 

PART FIRST. 

TYPICAL PERSONS. 

1. CHRIST and ADAM compared. 



THE almighty Creator had now finished the uni- 
versal frame of nature. He saw the heavens 
shining in all their glory ; he beheld the earth smil- 
ing in ail her beauty: the sea was stocked with fish; 
the air with fowls; the field with beasts.. But still 
the masterpiece of this inferior world was wanting, 
a creature endued with reason ; of upright stature ; 
and qualified at once to rule over the rest of thecrea- 
tion, and correspond with his Creator. And the 
Lo.d God formed man of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,. 
and he became a living soul.* Thus far we are 
told by the Hebrew lawgiver. And we are further 
informed by the great aposde of the Gentiles, that 
this first man, whose name was Adam, was the type 
or figure of him that was to come.t For ought we 
know, it might not so much as enter the heart of Ad- 
am to conceive of this divine mystery ; and Moses 
himself, the inspired penman of that truly ancient 

• Gea, ii, 7. f Rom. v. 14. 

A a 



6 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

and authentic history, might not perhaps advert to 
it. But since God has revealed it to us by his 
Spirit, let us attend where the resemblance lies, of 
the first to the second Adam ; which we shall obvi- 
ously find, whether we view him as the first man, 
the first father, the first lord, the first husband, or 
t he first covenant-head. And let us learn to con- 
template the glory of that illustrious person, who 
was so early typified ; while we admire the depth of 
God's foreknowledge, in ordering matters so, that 
the history of the first man, who was of the earth, 
and earthly, was a prophecy of the second man, 
who is the Lord from heaven. 

Tobeginwith the creation of our general ancestor,. 
Adam was the first man in the world of nature, wha 
being formed out of the dust of the ground, by the 
immediate hand of his Creator, was without father, 
and without mother, and in a sense peculiar to him- 
self, is called the Son of God*. He was also a 
creature perfectly new, to whom there was nothing- 
like, and nothing equal, among ail the visible works, 
of God; for his person, consistingofa visible body, 
and an invisible soul, w^as made after the image, and 
in the likeness of God, which chiefly consist in 
knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Now, 
sure it is not difiicultto perceive, that all these char- 
acters exactly agree to the second man, who is the 
first-born among many brethren, in the world oi 

• Luke iii. 38, 



CHRIST and ADAM compared. y 

grace, — without father as man, — without mother a& 
God. His body was formed (not indeed of the dust 
of the ground, but in a manner equally unexampled 
and miraculous) of the virgin's substance, by the 
immediate power of God j and so soon as areasona^ 
ble soul was united to it, in the womb of the virgin^ 
both were, that very moment, assumed into the di« 
vine person of the Son : wherefore, in aji propriety^ 
that holy thing which was horn Giber, was called 
the Son of God ■;* or, to use the expression of an* 
Old Testament prophet, was a new thing created 
in the earth.t In the man Christ Jesus is found 
more of the divine likeness than ail the saints, than 
all the holy angels can dare to boast, For which, 
of them have been called at any time, the bright- 
ness of die Father's glory, and the express image 
cf h;s person ? or to which of them has he said, 
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? + 
Adam, indeed, might resemble his Creator, as the 
image on the coin resembles the king upon the 
throne ; but Jesus Christ resembles God, as the 
prince and heir to the crown: resembles his royal fa- 
ther, being not only like him, but of the same nature 
and substance with him. And though in shadowing 
forth the constitution of ImmanuePs person, all si- 
militudes must be infinitely detective, yet the union* 
of Adam's soul and body is perhaps the best natural 
emblem of it we can expect to find, Nor does it 
seem unlawful for us to assist our conception of this 
* kuke i. 35* t Jer xxxi. 22. ( Heb. i. 3. 5. 



S TYPICAL PERSONS. 

high mystery by this natural union, inasmuch as the 
Holy Ghost himself, in the scriptures of the New 
Testament, seems to allude unto it, when he calls 
his humanity the flesh, and his divinity the spirit. 
In the former he was manifested, in the latter he 
was justified.* In the one he was put to death, and 
in the other he was quick cned.t If the constitution 
of the tirst Adam's person was an incomprehensible 
mystery in nature, the constitution of the second 
Adam's person is no less an incomprehensible mys- 
tery of grace. 

As Adam was the first man that God created, so 
he was the first father and progenitor of all other 
men, who are every one bom in his image as they 
come into the world of nature, and breathe the vital 
air. Just so, from Jesus Christ the everlasting 
Father, all who come into the world of grace derive 
their spiritual being; his image they bear,} and front 
him the whole family in heaven and in earth is 
named. || Though here also there is a consid- 
erable disparity betwixt the earthly man, and the 
heavenly Adam. The first man is not the immedi- 
ate, but the remote father of our flesh ; for one ge- 
neration goes, and another comes: but Jesus Christ 
is the immediate father of ail his saints who in ev- 
ery cge receive from him the light of life, as the 
silver moon, and all the sparkling stars, rev 
t:v. ir light immediately from the sun the glor 

* I Timothy iii. 16. t l l5, ter »"• ! 3. 

J i Cor, xv. 49. 8 fcpb* U|« IS* 



CHRIST and ADAM compared. $. 

fountain of t!he day* The first Adam as Moses 
relates, was made a living soul,* that he might con- 
vey a natural li r e to them who had not received it c 
but the second Adam, as the apostle declares, was 
made a quickening spirit, to impart a spiritual life 
to them who having now lost it, were dead in tres- 
passes and in sins ; and at theresun'ectionofthe just- 
to quicken also their mortal bodies. Fur as in Ad- 
am all die, so in Christ shall.all.be made alive* 

Once more ; Adam was the first lord and king 
of the world. Being made a little lower than the 
angels he was crowned with glory and honour. 
He had dominion over the works of God's hands ; 
and ail things were put under his feet : all sheep 
and oxen, the beasts of the field, and whatsoever 
passeth through the paths of the seas.t But alas ! 
the dominion of this lord of the inferior creation 
was short-lived ; for being in honour, he continued 
not.+ Nevertheless, in the person of Jesus Christ, 
Gcd-man, the primeval sovereignty of the human 
nature is most amply restored ; for he is made head 
over all things unto his body the church both in 
the heights and depths .|j The jurisdiction of Ad- 
am, though wide . was not universal ; but the king- 
dom of Jesus Christ ruleth over all. He. can, if he 
pleases, extinguish the stars and the sun, which 
shine by his permission ; and of his government 
and peace there shall be no end.§ 

* I Cor. xv. 45- t Ps. viii. 3. 4. 5* t Ps. *lix; * 2 » 
1 Epb. i, 22. $ Isaiab ix» 7. 



10 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

Now let us come to the marriage of our great 
progenitor. God saw it was not goo J for man to 
be alone:* he casts him into a deep sleep ; opens 
his side ; takes from him a rib ; by his creative power 
forms a woman of it ; closes the wound ; presents 
the newly-formed creature to her husband, who 
being awaked, knew what was done unto him, and 
with wonder acknowledged this last and best gift of 
heaven, to be bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. 
For this cause, says the sacred historian, shall a 
man leave his father and mother, and cleave unto 
his wife.t Now, may we be allowed to allegorize 
this history? Does not the apostle seem to say, that 
this is spoken of Christ and the church ?| Let us 
modestly pursue the allegory a little. The second 
Adam, that he migh give life and being to his be- 
loved spouse, the church, the mother of all who 
are truly living, was content to sleep the sleep of 
death. This sleep of death was not the effect of na- 
ture, for he died no>: of old age nor sickness ; but 
he was voluntarily cast into it, and was delivered, 
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
God, o be crucified and slain. His side was opened 
with a spear, and from the gaping wound came wa- 
ter and blood, fhat he might sanctify and cleanse, 
and presen. o himself a glorious church, not having 
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.)) By thisslcep 
of death into which he was cast, he becomes at once 

• Gen. ii. 18. f Ver. 24. \ Epb. v. 32. ft Vcr. 27. 



CHRIST and ADAM compared. 11 

her husband and her father; for she is a part of him- 
self, of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.* 
When he awaked at his resurrection, his wounds 
were healed; he found himself a glorious con* 
queror ; he saw of he travail of his soul, and 
was satisfied. He acknowledges vhe relation, and 
betrothesher to himself for ever in loving-kindness, 
in mercies, and in faithfulness. A bloody spouse 
was the church to thee, O dying Redeemer I So 
matchless was his love, he left his father and his 
mother to cleave to his unworthy bride— left his fa- 
ther in heaven, when he came down into this lower 
world, and consented to be forsaken for a season- 
left his mother on earth, when he ascended on high 
as the captain of salvation. He left the blessed vir- 
gin that bare him, to provide for himself; he left 
the church of the Jews, although his mother-church, 
that he might cleave unto the Gentile church, gather- 
ed out of all nations. 

Lastly, Adam was the first covenant-head, and 
public representative. It is true, \he hints of this 
transaction are but sparingly given in the book of 
Genesis. However, the truth of it is clearly evin- 
ced from the tenor of divine revelation ; and it is 
evident, that before the law was given by Moses, 
a law was given to Adam, because death reigned 
from Adam to Moses, and there behoved to be a 
law by which this death did reign. For, as the in- 

* Eph, T . 3*. 



*2 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

spired apostle argues with the greatest force of Tea.- 
son. Sin is not imputed where ihere is no law.* 
Was i here then a law before the covenant of Sinai f 
I( was surely none other but the law of works, which 
God gave to the first man; in whom, as vheir cov- 
enant-head, his posterity were either to stand or 
fail. Full well we know the doleful even* . Buta& 
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners: 
so by the obedience of one, shall many be made 
righteous.t The first Adam hrough pride diso- 
beyed ihe most easy precept ; and the last Adam o- 
beyed ihe mos difficult commandment. The first 
Adam, being a man, affected to-be as God: the se- 
cond Adam, being God, was found in fashion as a 
man. The first Adam was assaulted by the. a 
in paradise, and was overcome : the second Adam 
was tempted in the wilderness, by the same mali- 
cious spirit, but he was a conqueror. The first 
Adam breaking the law inline point, was guilty of 
all: the last Adam observing it in every point, did 
magnify and make it honourable. The moment 
we become 'he children of Adam by natural gener- 
ation we die for a sin which we could not person- 
ally cemmi* : ?he moment we become the children 
of Christ by regeneration, we are made alive, by a 
righieousness which we could not actually workout. 
In Adam we are condemned for our sin; but in 
Christ we a re justified from innumerable offe. 
In the first book of the Bible we have a melancholy 
•Horn. v. 13. t Ver. 1?. 



The HISTORY of NOAH, n 

relation, how the first Adam was so far from being 
able to transmit life and happiness to his posterity,, 
or to give them to eat of the tree of life, that him- 
self was driven out from the terrestrial paradise, 
and debarred from all access to that sacramental 
tree : But in the last book of the sacred oracles, we 
are presented with a view of the second Adam, in a 
far more glorious place than that happy garden, and 
hear him declaring from his own mouth, To him 
that over come th, will I give to eat of the tree of 
life that is in the midst of the paradise of God.* 

For ever blessed be the glorious name of God, 
that what the first Adam could not keep, the second 
hath amply restored to us : For as in Adam sin hath 
reigned unto death ; so grace hath reigned through 
righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
Lord :t Who is not only come that we might have 
life, but that we might have it more abundantly. J 

2. THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 

^HHAT Noah was a figure of Jesus Christ, 
"** seems not obscurely hinted in his very name 
given him by his religious father, not without pro- 
phetic instinct. It signifies rest, comfort, and, as 
some have observed, grace, when its letters are a 
little transposed. So Christ is our consolation, 
our rest, and by him grace reigns unto eternal life. 
f){ him we may truly say with the strictest propriety, 

* Rev. ii, 7. » f Roni. v, iu t John x. 10. 

B 



14 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

This same shall comfort us concerning our work and 
Coil of our hands.* Noah was a just man, and perfect 
in his generations, and walked with God,t when 
the wickedness of men was grown to the most ex- 
orbitant height, and all flesh had corrupted their 
way. He dared to be good, when all were turned 
degenerate ; and, fearless of reproach or violence, 
he admonished them of their wicked ways, preach- 
ing righteousness in their assemblies. J So Christ 
preserved his integrity in every the smallest in- 
stance, in an evil and adulterous generation, preach- 
ing what he practised, with not unlike success to 
Noah. For it is written of him ki the Psalms, I 
have preached righteousness in the great congrega- 
tion : Lo, I have not refrained my lips O Lord thou 
knowest, § In seme seasons of the Almighty's ven- 
geance, we are informed, that the righteousness of 
.Noah, Daniel, and job, could not deliver a sinning 
people, nor yet their nearest relations, from the lift- 
i d stroke J| Truly Noah, though righteous, could 
not by his righteousness avert the waters of the 
flood* But the righteousness of our adorable Re- 
ner is cf such infinite value and perfection, as 
to deliver from death an innumerable multitude of 
transgressors. 

But let us chiefly consider that memorable histor 

rv of Noah, his preparing an ark for the saving of his 

L8€ ; the an&t) pc of which remarkable event, wc 

• Gen. v 29 f Cbap. vi. 6. \ 2 Pet- Li. 5- § Psal. *l 9 
ily, 



The HISTORY of NOAH. IS 

sure informed by the apostle Peter, is, cur being 
saved by baptism (not the putting away of the filth 
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience to- 
wards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.* — - 
The long-suffering of God was now tired out, and 
his Spirit ceased to strive with rebellious men, 
whom all means had proved ineffectual to reclaim. 
The time was come, when the threatened vengeance 
was to descend with resistless fury. Noah being 
long before warned of God, had prepared an ark a- 
gainst the approaching deluge : For he believed 
God; and being moved with fear, he obeyed the 
commandment of the Lord. He despised the jeers 
of the unbelieving world ; and considered not the 
huge difficulties he behoved to surmount, before he 
could get a vessel constructed, of such bulk as 
would contain in its capacious hold, all sorts of 
beasts and birds, together with their necessary pro- 
visions, for so long a time as he was to be there a 
prisoner. That God who commanded him, that 
God in whom he believed, and whom he feared ? 
enabled him also both to begin and finish. The 
ship is built ; the cargo is taken in ; the flood 
comes ; and the waters prevail above the tallest 
trees, and lof^eat mountains. The sinful race of 
men is buried in a watry grave. But the ark, the 
peculiar care of Keaven, though without helm or 
mast, rides triumphant over the foaming billow \ is 
preserved from dashing on the craggy rocks, or 
• i Pet iii, 21, 2ih 

B % 



16 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

foundering in the mighty waters. At length a 
dove, fetching in her mouth an olive-leaf,* informs 
the inhabitants of the ark, that die waters were a- 
bated. They are at last released from their te- 
dious confinement. The venerable patriarch, over- 
whelmed with gratitude for such a wonderful pre- 
servation amidst the howling waste, sacrifices unto 
the Lord, who smells a savour of rest,t and renews 
with him his gracious covenant, that he will no 
more curse the ground for man's sake. A glorious 
rainbow is seen over his head stamping the clouds £ 
which from that time became a peaceful sign, that 
the waters shall never more cover the face of the 
earth; and that though the waves should toss them- 
selves against the sandy shores, they shall never 
prevail. — Who sees not in this whole transaction, a 
lively picture of the method of our salvation by Je- 
sus Christ, from a far more dreadful flood, that 
shall, sooner or later, descend upon the head of ev* 
ery sinner ? In Jesus Christ we have the antitype of 
Nosh, both floating in the ark, standing at the altar, 
and compassed with the rainbow. Indeed he is at 
cnce the ark that saves us from the floods of divine 
wrath, the sacrifice that atones the incensed justice 
of God, and the rainbow that makes our clouds of 
every sort to wear sweet smiles. Though Noah's 
ark, and sacrifice, and rainbow, were things differ- 
ent from himself, and from one another, in Jesus 
Christ they are all conjoined. 

* Gen. viii- II. t Vcr, 21. J Chap. ix. 13. 



The HISTORY of NOAH. 1? 

What mortal wit would hare contrived such an 
expedient as the ark of Noah, to save from a uni- 
versal deluge ? There is no doubt but the whole 
scheme appeared very ridiculous to the generality 
of the world. Noah himself was not the contriver 
of this project. It was wholly planned by God. — - 
Even so, if men and angels had tortured their in- 
vention to save a guilty world, they could never 
have so much as suggested that method which the 
wisdom of God has fallen upon in the mediation of 
Jesus Christ. So far does it transcend the thoughts 
of men, that naturally they cannot receive the mys- 
tery of God's will. For it is to the Jews a stum- 
bling block, and to the Greeks foolishness.* In 

this wonderful vessel were found only eight souls,t 
the little family of Noah ; and how small was that 
number to the myriads that perished in the waves ? 
Even so the flock of Christ is but a little flock ; for 
though many are called, yet few are chosen. J O 

how unsearchable are his judgments ! It was no 

doubt very strange to see the wildest beasts and 
birds dwelling peaceably together under the same 
roof, in that time of common danger : But not more 
strange than what happens every time when sinners 
are converted unto God, and enter into his sanctua- 
ry. For in Jesus Christ, the men of ravenous na- 
tures forget their natural ferocity, and put on, as the 
elect of God, bowels of mercy, humbleness of mind, 

* i Cor. i. 23, f 1 pet. iii. 20. \ Matt . xx. i&> 

B 3 



18 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

meekness, and long-suffering ; and to use the lofty 
stile of the prophet, The wolf shall dwell with the 
Limb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
and the young lion and the fading together :— They 
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,* 

Dreadful, to be sure, were the bufferings of the 

rolling surges on the sides of the ark, when heaven 
and earth seemed to conspire its ruin ; but being 
protected by a superior providence, the vessel, tho' 
heavy laden, weathered the storm, preserved alive 
all the creatures that were within her, and at last 
rested upon the mountains of Ararat. So did the 
waves and billows of the Father's wrath go over 
thine head, O suffering Saviour, and the floods of 
ungodly men made thee afraid ;t But thou wast 
more than a conqueror, and at last did find thy rest 
on the mountains of eternal glory, having both saved 
thyself and all that are found in thee : Thou art our 
hiding-place from the storm, and a covert from the 
tempest. If it had not been the Lord who was on 
our side, the waters of God's wrath had swallowed 
us up qukk : Then the waters had overwhelmed us, 
the stream had gene over our soul ; the proud 

waters had g. tie over our soul.J When we 

are told in the sacred history, that a dove alighted 
on the ark with the olive-leaf, what should hinder us 
to think of the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who a* 
lighted upon him in the waters of Jordan, in the 
ness of that gentle bird ? and who brings glad ti- 
* l3a. xi. 6. t -'* I' *v: ii. 4 t Psal. exxiv. 4» 



The HISTORY of NOAH. ir 

dings of great joy to all the inhabitants of the ark,- 
when he assures them, by the most incontestibie 
proofs, that the winter of wrath is past, and the rain 
is over and gone.* — The holy fire is now gone forth 
at the appointed season ; and beholding the dismal 
desolation, he offers an atoning sacrifice of every 
clean bird and beast - 7 and the Lord smelled a sa- 
vour of rest. This naturally leads us to think of 
him who gave himself for us an offering and a sa* 
crifice of a sweet-smelling savour, t So well pleas- 
ed is God with Jesus Christ, that with him he es- 
tablishes his covenant, and with all his seed, that 
they shall never come into condemnation. Hear 
what himself declares by the mouth of the holy 
prophet Isaiah : This is as the waiters of Noah unto 
me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah 
shall no more go over the earth; so have I sworn 
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke 
thee, O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not 
comforted. J See how the frowning clouds now 
smile with the glorious colours of the rainbow, the 
cheerful token of God's covenant. It is a bow, but 
it has no arrow : and the face of it is turned awav 
from us in token of reconciliation. Such is the glo- 
rious transformation of all your afflictions by Jesus 
Christ, O ye heirs of righteousness. They are 
clouds indeed, dark clouds, but so far from drown- 
ing, they shall even fructify your soul, and make 
you revive as the corn. What before was an indi- 
* Song it 11. t Epk. y. 2. \ Isa. liv, 9. 



20 TYPICAL PERSONS, 

cation of wrath, and a cause of fear, is now a tokesi 
of love, and an encouragement of faith, A rainbow 
forever encompasses the throne of your God, # tho* 
from it should proceed lightnings, and thunders, and 
voices. Though like that mighty angel in the Rev- 
elation,! he should be clothed with a cloud in the 
dispensations of his providence, his sunny face will 
produce a rainbow round abouthis head. He is ev- 
er mindful of his covenant, and you need not fear the 
terrors of his glory. 

3. THE HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. 

NOW we shall came to the short, but compre- 
hensive history of Melchizedec ; the figura- 
tive meaning of which is not only hinted to us in the 
sacred oracles, but the Holy Ghost condescends to 
enter on a very particular explication of it.J The 
narrative related by Moses is shortly this.§ The 
patriarch Abram had, with his little army, surpris- 
ed and defeated the forces of ihe confederate kings, 
who had plundered Sodom, and among other pris- 
oners, had carried away captive his kinsman Lot, 
who, living in that wicked city, was now a very sin- 
gular blessing o his sinful fellow-citizens, being 
the occasion of their rescue from the invaders of 
their country. As he returned from the slaugh ter 
he was met by the king of Sodom, with another 
king of a very dhTerent character : His name wa& 
Melchizedec, which, though a very fine one, for it 
• Rev. iv. 3. t Chap. x. 1. { IUb. vii. § See Gen. *i*. 



The HISTORY of MELCHIZEDEC. 21 

signifies king of righteousness, was not unsuitable 
to his real character, and is a proper admonition to 
all other kings for what they should be distinguish- 
ed. The name of his city was Salem : Whether it 
was that Salem where Jehovah afterwards had his 
tabernacle, or another place of the same name, is 
not precisely determined. However, we are assur- 
ed, that upon this occasion he brought forth bread 
and wine, not as a sacrifice to God, O ye Papists, 
but to refresh the patriarch's men, fatigued with 
toil. But the most extraordinary circumstance of 
all is, that though living in that wicked country, he 
was priest of the Most High God, and vested with 
regal dignity. When all around him were sunk is 
superstition and idolatry, this illustrious Gentile re- 
tained the knowledge of the true God, and thought 
it no disparagement of his kingly honour to officiate 
in the solemn rites of his holy worship. The hos- 
pitable monarch was a no less religious priest. As 
in the former capacity, he brought forth bread and 
wine ; so in the latter, he blessed the renowned pat- 
riarch, and received from him tithes of all. Thus 
far the sacred story. But from what parents he de- 
scended, when he was born, or when he died, who 
were his predecessors, cr who succeeded him, are 
questions we are not permitted to resolve. And e- 
ven the silence of the scripture is expressive ! u For 
he was made like unto the Son of God," both in 
what Moses relates concerning him, and in what he 
conceals from the curious inquirer* Let us care- 



22 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

fully observe these two heads of resemblance, and 
we shall easily understand, how David in spirit says 
of the Messiah, Thou art a priest for ever> after the 
order of Melchizedec* 

We shall first begin with what Moses relates of 

this extraordinary man. To whom can his name 

Melchizedec so properly belong, as to the king that 
reigns in righteousness , who, righteous himself, 
has wrought for all his subjects a justifying righte- 
ousness by the merit of his blood, and works in all 
his subjects a sanctifying righteousness by the pow- 
er of his Spirit ? — He, he is King of Salem, which 
is by interpretation, King of peace. Peace is the 
disposition for which he was renowned, who with 
his dying breath implored forgiveness to his bloody 
murderers : peace is the grand blessing he died to 
purchase, and lives to confer. O glorious peace, of 
which righteousness is the foundation, and joy in 
the Holy Ghost the inseparable anendant I Hail ye 
subjects of his auspicious government, who call the 
blessings of his purchase all your own ! Lo, in your 
princely Saviour, the great Jehovah lays aside his 
vindictive wrath, and becomes your loving Father ; 
the angels no more stand aloof, but commence your 
mi listers and guardians ; \he inferior creatures are 
turned into your faithful friends and allies ; the 
Jews and Gentiie, forgetting their former enmity, 
join in the most cordial friendship ; and conscience, 
no more an accuser, whispers peace in gentlest ac» 

• Psal. ex. An 



The HISTORY of MELCHIZEDEC. %% 

cents. Though a in the world you should have 
tribulation, yet in him you shall have peace." O 
Prince of peace, extend the borders of thy peaceful 
kingdom far and wide, and let the wished peri- 
od come when the nations shall leam war no more 1 
O let thy peace rule in our hearts through these tu- 
multuous scenes of life ; and bring us at last tp these 
calm regions of joy and felicity, where peace ex- 
tends her dove-like wings for ever and ever ! — " He 
brought forth bread and wine," to refresh the hun- 
gry and thirsty soldiers, when returning from the 
slaughter of the kings. Such is the refreshment 
which the true Melchizedec affords, and will afford 
to all who are truly engaged in the spiritual war- 
fare; He x has prepared of his goodness for the 
poor." O u come unto him, and you shall neve r 
hunger ;— — believe en him and you shall never 
thirst. Eat of hi^ bread and drink of the wine which 
he has mingled." Happy they who shall conquer in 
the holy warfare^ for they u shall eat of the hidden 
manna, and the Lamb in the mid t of the throne 

* hall feed them."^- " And he was pries! of the 

Most High God." An honor not usually appro- 
priated vo tho-ie who sit on thrones ; for God him- 
self was plea ed to provide against the blending of 
these offices in the commonwealth of Israel. Wit- 
ness thy fate, Uzziah,* who snatching at the censer, 
lost the scepter. And shall the nipple-crowned 
priest of Rome, who exalts himself above all that i§ 
* ft Chroa, kxvL i8< 



24 TYPIGAL PERSONS. 

called God, go always unpunished? But of Jesus 
Christ a prophet testifies , He shall sit and rule upon 
his throne,* as once he was a king upon his cross. — 
"And he blessed Abram." So Christ our royal 
priest, was sent of God to bless the children of A- 
bram, not with a verbal, but real benediction, in 
turning every one of us from our iniquity : and 
" men shall be blessed in him." — u Consider," in 
the last place, %i how great this man was, to whom 
even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the 
spoils ;" and, as we may say, even Levi, who re* 
ceived tithes from the people by the commandment 
of God, was tithed in the loins of his progenitor* — 
A most convincing proof, that this Melchizedec was 
both a greater man than Abram, and a greater priest 
than Aaron. But we Christians have a great High- 
priest, in whose presence Abram must nor glory, 
Levi has no pre-eminence. To our Melchizedec 
the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar 
people, do pay, not only tithes, but all they have 
and arc, when they present their bodies a living sa- 
crifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is their 
reasonable service. 1" 

But the circumstances which Moses conceals, are 
no less worthy of our notice than thofe he reveals. 
1 i vain you ask his genealogy, his birth, his death, 
or the ceremonies of h's consecration : for these 
are buried in darkness ; the Holy Ghost intending 
to signify, that Jesus Christ is really and truly what 
vi. 13. f Horn. xii. U 



The HISTORY of MELCHIZEDEC. 25 

this mysterious king is in the history. Without fath- 
er, — not as he was God, but man. — Without moth- 
er^ — not as he was man, but God. — Without de- 
scent, — for having no predecessors in office, he 
needed not prove, that he was sprung from th§ 
priestly tribe ; which was an essential qualification 
in the Levities! priesthood.: — Having neither begin- 
ning of days, nor end of life, — for being set up from 
everlasting, he abideth a priest continually : Fo? 
though he died, yet even in death he was a priest, 
and now he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them. ■ What shall we say .more I In the order 
of Aaron were many priests who, like o;her mor- 
tals, resigning their breath by the stroke of death, 
their priestly honour w^s laid in the dust with them* 
We knew from whence they arose ; with what car- 
nal ordinances and ceremonies they received their 
Inauguration ; what sacrifices they offered ; in what 
holy places they officiated ; who assisted them in 
their various functions ; and ^4io succeeded them 
when they either died, or were deposed from their 
office. But the priest after the order of Ivleichlze- 
dec, being possessed of immortal life, and called of 
God, without external ceremonies, to his high o& 
fice, himself was the sacrifice^ h ms If was die altar, 
himself was his tabernacle and temple assisted by 
none, nor succeeded by any. In Meichizedec, 
whom Moses speaks of as though he had been im- 
♦mortal, we have but indeed a &mt shadow, and not 
|£ie very image of the things themselves diet rt2 

C 



26 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

found in Jesus Christ. But let the faintness of the 
resemblance remind us of the greatness of the 
mysteries. " Fov who shall declare his genera- 



tion :" 



4. THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 

NEXT we shall glance at a very extraordinary 
piece of history, of the most difficult com- 
mandment that was ever given to any of the human 
race ; yet was it punctually obeyed, and the obedi- 
ence amply rewarded. It is the story of Abram's 
offering up his son Isaac at the commandment of 
the Lord.* The famous patriarch had endured 
many trials, and proved the sincerity of his faith by 
along course of obedience, and stedfast dependence 
°^ the divine veracity, from the time he was called 
to leave his native Ur, in the land of Chaldea. — - 
Long did he count him faithful, who had promised 
that he should have a son, in whom all nations 
should be blessed, even when the accomplishment 
of the premise seemed next to impossible. At last 
die expected child is bora, a son of his old age ; he 
flourishes apace, and is now flushed with the radi- 
ant bloom of youth, both lovely and beloved. Thc 
joylul father might now think, that the most trou- 
blesome scenes of life were happily finished, and 
that it remained for him onlv to die in faith and 
peace. But how greatly would he been mistaken ? 
The sorest, the sharpest trial yet remained : Fpj: 

* See Gen. zrW. 



The HISTORY of ISAAC. 2f 

it came to pass after these things, that God did 
tempt Abraham. And he said, Take now thy 
son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou love st, and 
get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him 
therefor a burnt- offering, upon one of the moun- 
tains which I shall tell thee of.* Shocking precept! 
mvsterious mandate ! Did ever such a message 
from God wound a parent's ear ! Had the voice 
from Heaven denounced, that Isaac was to die a 
natural death and to be snatched away by a sudden 
stroke, the tidings had been mournful and agoniz- 
ing. But how much more when it is declared, that 
the hand of violence must be lifted against him ; 
that he must be offered up for a burnt-sacrifice, 
butchered, mangled, and reduced to ashes I But 
the crowning circumstance that sets forward the ca- 
lamity, and renders it worse than a thousand dea, 
the father must be the priest to bmcl, to kill, to cut, 
to burn his beloved son. Abraham, what net* the 
thoughts of thy heart, when your ears first he aid 
such dreadful orders ? Ycu "were accustomed to hear 
the voice of God speaking in more soothing accents. 
Hadst thou net been an extraordinary believer, L;- 
to what atempest had all thy soul been tossed? How 
maight reason, natural affection, and religloik, have 
conspired to persuade thy disobedience ? w Offer up 
thy son, thine only sen Isaac, for a burnt effering ! 
Can this be the voice of God ? Sure it must be the 
voice of some wicked spirit, that would impose fT> 
* Gen. axil i, a, , 

C2 



SB TYPICAL PERSONS. 

en my credulity, and urge a father to imbrue his 
hands in filial blood. But stay : the revelation is 
unquestionable. It was the very voice of God. I 
am not permitted so much as to doubt of this. Sure- 
ly then it must have some other meaning than I first 
thought. Surely the merciful God cannot mean 
that I should really kill my Isaac. Take now thy 
son, thine only son, and offer him up for a burnt-of- 
fering, Alas ! my Isaac, was it for this I received 
thee by special promise ? Was it for this thy moth- 
er brought thee forth, when she was past her age, 
and I called thee by a name expressive of joy and 
laughter ? How ill dost thou now answer thy name ! 
Thou art not a son of laughter, but of sorrow. O 
God, why couldst thou not rather have demande4 
all my numerous flocks and kids ; to smoke in -one 
great burnt-offering ? Or if a human sacrifice de- 
lighted thee more, why should my Isaac, rather than 
any other, be the victim? O that I could redeem his 
life with my own blood V 9 

" And must I too be the priest ? Must he bleed 
by a father's hand ? Ah ! what will the world say ? 
They will never believe me, when I tell them it was 
by thy order I did it. What will Sarah say ? But 
chiefly, what will come of thy own promise ? How 
will he be the father of many nations when he is no 
more ? O ye nations ! I thought that in this my I- 
saac you would all be blessed : But now farewell for 
eyer all such pleasing hopes. Isaac must die, and 
the promise fails for evermore I* 



The HISTORY of ISAAC. 2& 

But so strong was the faith of this eminent be- 
liever, that either such misgiving thoughts were al- 
together strangers to his mind, or they were soon, 
repelled. He wisely considered, that what God 
had commanded, could not be wrong ; and what he 
had promised, could net be false. " Be hushed all 
unbelieving fears : For he who gave an Isaac from 
the barren womb to fulfil his promise, can, if he 
please, for the same reason, restore him from the 
burning altar. Come then, without delay, obey the 
high command, believing that what he he^s promis- 
ed, he is able also to perform." 

No sooner had the early dawn begun to appear in 
the eastern sky, than the resolved patriarch springs" 
from his couch, saddles an ass, takes with him the 
intended victim and servants, as much wood as he 
thought necessary, and proper utensils for the fu- 
ture sacrifice. Three days they travelled on this 
strange journey, and all that space he looked on his 
son as dead ; but the steady purpose of his soul was 
not shaken.. On the third day the fatal hills of Mo- 
riah are descried at a distance, the servants are left 
behind, the wood is laid on Isaac, and AbraKaih car- 
ries the lire and the knife. And now, after some 
endearing conversation, they are arrived at the ap- 
pointed place. The altar is built ; the wood is laid 
in order ; the plot is doubtless revealed to Isaac by. 
his sedate father ; apd Isaac, though fully able .to? 
have made resistance, or delivered himself by High:.-, 
knot recorded to have attempted'the one or the oth* 



20 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

er : for the same almighty power that touched the 
patriarch's heart, and made him willing to give the 
deadly stab, did also, beyond all doubt, make Isaac 
no less willing cheerfully to receive it. He is bound 
like another victim ; he is laid upon the altar, and 
the hand now grasps the fatal knife to be lodged in 
his guiltless breast ; when lo, a heavenly voice for- 
bids the bloody deed, and the patriarch's willing 
mind is accepted for the actual sacrifice. His fear 
of God is highly applauded, and by his works his 
faith was proved to be perfect. " Abram, you spar- 
ed not your son for the sake of my command, but I 
spare him for the sake of thy obedience, Receive 
him again with my blessing. He shall be the pro- 
genitor of the Messiah, and all the nations shall be 
blessed in him." A ram caught by the horns in the 
thicket supplies the room of Isaac, and the grateful 
patriarch acknowledges the happy providence, in 
.ailing the name of the place JEHOVAH-JIREH. 
And afterwards it became a common proverb, In the 
mount of the Lord it shall be seen.* 

O the inconceivable power of faith, that can ren- 
der the most difficult duties so easy ! Nor is there 
a better way for the children of Abraham to insure 
their dearest enjoyments, and improve them to the 
highest advantage than by resigning them, totally 
resigning ihem to the sovereign will of God. But 
surely a higher mystery was contained in this extra- 
ordinary occurrence. Who can forbear here to 

* Gen. xxii. 14- 



The HISTORY of ISAAC. M 

think of the adorable mystery of redemption by Je- 
sus Christ ? For God so loved the world, as not to 
spare his own Son, but deliver him unto the death 
for us all.* Methinks the language of this whole 
transaction was as if God had said, u Ye children o£ 
men, hear you what my faithful servant and friend 
has done upon this mountain, in cheerfully sacrific- 
ing his only son to testify his love to God. By the 
same method I will declare my love to a perishing 
world, by giving my only begotten Son to fall a sac- 
rifice for sin. In this mountain shall the sword of 
justice awake against him by his own consent ; and 
what has now been done only in a figure, shall be re- 
ally transacted at the appointed time. Meanwhile 
let rams, and other beasts, be sacrificed as a memo- 
rial of this grand burnt-offering ; but let no human 
blood smoke on my altars." 

But more particularly to enumerate the impor- 
tant predictions of this prophetical history. It con- 
tained first of all, a lively intimation, that in the full- 
ness of time a human sacrifice should be offered up. 
Indeed it is but just and equal the nature that sin- 
ned should suffer : for how can the blood of harm- 
less beasts atone for the sins of guilty men ? And 
this might seem to have been confessed by the hor- 
rid custom that obtained in the Gentile world, of 
sacrificing men to appease the wrath of their deities* 
But the living and true God discharged such direful 
offerings under the severest penalties ; not only for 

• Rom, viii. 3*. 



32 TYPICAL PERSONS- 

their evident barbarity, but because they encroach* 
ed upon the plan of his infinite wisdom, and antici- 
pated the great propitiation, who was to be a human, 
sacrifice, although he was no ordinary person, as I- 
saac was not an ordinary son. Like Isaac he was 
a Son and heir, the Son cf God, and the heir of all 
things. — A beloved Son ;. for he was daily his de- 
light, before the mountains were brought forth ; and 
oftener than once it was declared by voice from the 
excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased.* — An only Son; for angels and 
saints,, though stiled the sons cf God, have no claim 
to such a sonship as the filial Godhead is possessed, 
of. Isaac, thy birth was altogether extraordinary, 
both by the father's and mother's side, surpassing 
the ordinary course of nature ; but still more amaz- 
ing is the generation of our atoning sacrifice, whose 
Father as God was the all-glorious Jehovah, and 
whose mother was a virgin. The event of his bir h, 
like Isaac's, was long fore' old, and ardently expect- 
ed before it happened ; but though long delayed, 
the promise was punctually fulfilled at the appointed 
time. His name imported joy and gladness. In 
Jesus, the true Isaac, our mouths shall be filled with 
laughter, and our tongue with melody. 

Ask you ihe manner of his death ? Behold it in 
this lively type. For as Isaac carried the wood, so- 
the bc!oved Son of God carried his cross. O ye 

Idrcn of men, your miq^i^es were the heavy load. 

»MiVth. rrii f. 



Hhe HISTORY of ISAAC, 33 

)ie bore in his own body on the tree. These, litt 
the wood tha? was intended ro reduce Isaac to ash- 
es, rendered him combustible to the fire of divine 
wra h. 

It was for no crime that Isaac was to suffer death 
in this ragical manner ; yet such was his filial pie- 
ty, such was his reverence of the high command, 
that he made no at empt *o save his life, though he 
was able to have done i^, being arrived at his youth- 
ful prime. Even so he innocen Redeemer, in 
tvhom was found no cause of death, no not by Lis 
very judge, he abhorred not the ignominious cross ; 
he spared 'o employ all the legions of angels hat 
were ready at his beck ; he never attempted to make 
his escape when his time was come, which he had 
often done before. Though he had thoroughly di- 
gested in his mind the doleful circumsiances of his 
erucifixion,he betrayed not the least unwillingness to 
submh to his Heavenly Father's will, even whenhis 
human heart shrinked at the bitter cup. I lay down, 
says he, my life : no man take h It fr m me. This 
commandment have I received from my Fa her.* 
Father, not my will, but thine be done.t 

It was by a wound from the hand of his father a- 
lone that Isaac was to breathe out his soul, and by 
him alone was the funeral pile to be lighted up. For 
these purposes, we are informed in the sacred his- 
tory, he carried the fire and the knife. It was not 
the envy of the Jews ; it was not the covetousness 

• John v. 17. iS, t Luke xxil -43. 



34 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

of Judas ; it was not the irresolution of the coward- 
ly Roman judge, that chiefly consigned our Isaac o-< 
ver to the tormenting cross : but being delivered 
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
God, these only proved the sinful executioners of 
the high decree. Thy burning anger against the 
sins of men, O Heavenly Father, was the fire that 
preyed upon his holy soul. Thy justice, inflexibly 
severe, was the keen flashing sword which awaked 
against him, and drank his vital blood. It pleased 
the Father to bruise him : thou didst put him to 
grief.* And truly many of the sufferings of our dy- 
ing Redeemer were of such a nature, that none but 
God could inflict, and none but God could have en- 
dured. 

Beyond all peradventure, the scene where these 
things were transacted by Abraham, being in the 
land of Moriah, could not be far distant from the 
horrid eminence of Calvary, or the lovely heigh) s of 
Zion, It is a circumstance by no means unworthy 
of our careful attention, that the true propitiation 
was offered up nearly in the same place where the 
beloved son of Abraham was 'O expire upon the a!» 
tar. Ye mountains of Moriah, your name may 
now be JEHOYAH-JIREH, for better reasons 
than when Abraham offered up for his Isaac, the 
ram which was caughr in the thicket ; for God has 
juow provided himself a Lamb, and in these moun- 
tains ihe Lord was seen putting away sin by the id" 
orifice of himself, 

• Isa. liii. jio. 



The HISTORY of ISAAC. S5 

It was not possible for a mortal creature to give a 
higher document of love to God, than by sacrificing 
for his sake a dearly beloved and only son. The 
whole history is so amazing, that we know not 
tvhether we should most admire the strange com- 
mandment or the unparallelled obedience. Even 
so it was not possible for the immor al God to give 
a nobler demonstration of love to men, than by de- 
livering for their sake his only begotten Son to die 
for their offences : (he whole transaction, from first 
to last, is of such uncommon nature, and so foreign. 
to every human plan for acceptance with God, that 
to the wise Greeks ir was mere foolishness, and to 
the Jews a stumbling-block. As Abraham could 
not without faith have acquiesced in the precept, no 
more can we without faith acquiesce in the gospel- 
plan. He consulted not with Sarah, when he wa^ 
called to obey ; and when we are called to believe, 
we must not ccmsuU with vain philosophy. Though 
in the mystery of redemption there is a depth of: 
wisdom, thy line, G reason, is too short to sound its 
bottom. Reason, especially in its depraved s'ate, 
pay not unfitly be compared to the -patriarch^ ass, 
which staid at the foot of the hill, but ascended not 
with Isaac to the sacrifice. It is the province of 
faith alone to ascend this hill of the Lord, and com- 
prehend the love of God which passeth knowledge 
Isaac, it is true, was nqt sacrificed; and there 
was no need that God should raise him from the 
dead, as the patriarch perhaps expected. But as h& 



^ TYPICAL PERSONS. 

mg& in a manner a dead man during ail the three 
days that intervened betwixt die sentence being 
passed againsi higft, and the reversing of it by the 
heavenly voice, it may be truly said, that in a figure 
he was received from the dead.? Exactly so, our 
true Isaac was received on the third day from the 
dead, not in a figure only. Like Laac, he felt no 
harm ; but, O death, he \yas thy plague ; O grave, 
he was fhy destruction, t Like Isaac, he returned 
to his Fathers house from whence he came, and be- 
came a Fa her of ijiany nations, who are bego ten a- 
gpm to a lively hope by his resurrection from the 
dead : for thus he prophet Isaiah foretels, with ad- 
mirable plainness and proprie y> When thou, O 
Heavenly Fa' her, shah: make his soul an offering 
for sin, he shall see his seed he shall prolong bis 
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in 
his hand. J 

- Forbear, ye children of men, anxiously to inquire, 
"Yherew;th ^ha:l I come before the Lord, and how 
shall I bow myself be r ore he high God ? Shall I give 
my first -born for my transgression and the fruit of 
my body for the sin of my soul ? For lo, he has giv- 
en his first-born to atone for your transgression, and 
the Son .of his love fo expiate the >m of your : ouls 
by the sacrifice of himself. Thus hath he shewed 
you what s good ; and what doth the L rd require 
of the, but to dp justly, I -vc mercy, and walk hung, 
bly with thy Go 1 ?§ 

«cb. xi. 19. fHof»«siL 14. t Is. Uii- 10. J Micvi. ,6.7.8c 



The HISTORY of JACOB. W 

fc THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 

THE history of Jacob's life is also stored with 
very remarkable incidents, not unlike those 
which befel our Lord Jesus Christ, or which have 
befallen the church, which is his body, and his oth* 
er self, in all ages of the world* The truth of this 
will easily appear in the following parallel* 

1. The Patriarch J a- 1, The Lord Jesus 
cob was chosen by God, Christ, being from all e- 
who loved him before he verlasting the peculiar 
was born, to be the pro- object of the Father's 
genitor of the Jewish na- love, was chosen by him 
tion, who also were cho- before the mountains 
sen in him rather than were brought forth, to be 
die posterity of Esau, the Father oi the nations 
called ia the stile of the of them who are saved ; 
prophet, the border of who are also chosen in 
wickedness, and the peo- him that they should be 
pie against whom the holy, and dis anguished 
Lord hath indignation from the world that lies 

forever. % From this in wickedness. — 2. From 

patriarch the Jews the Jesus Christ, the chosen, 
peculiar people of God, generation are named 

are named Israelites* Christians. — 3. And the 

3. From him sprung the twelve apostles of the 
twelve patriarchs, who Lamb, are the fathers of 
were the fathers of that the holy nation according 
holy nation according to to the spirit, — 4. Behold 

dhe Hash, far Many and see, was ever any 

D 



38 



TYPICAL PERSONS. 



and great were the hard- 
ships which this patri- 
arch conflicted with du- 
ring the course of his pil- 
grimage ; for it appears 
that he was the most af- 
flicted of all his race j 
both on account of the 
treatment he met wkh 
from Esau, from Laban, 
and from God himself. 
« 5. Very early he be- 
gan to struggle with his 
rough brother Esau, who 
carried his enmity to 
such a high pitch, as to 
resolve to murder him, 
for no other fault than 
excluding him from the 
privilege of birthright, 
which himself had justly 
forfeited, by selling it 
for a morsel of meat ; 
and therefore when he 
would afterwards have 
inherited the blessing, he 
could not by all his tears 
nee his father to be- 
N it upon him. — 6, In 
in shsdl you think, O 



sorrow like unto his? for 
his whole life was a con* 
tinual war with woe. He 
was afflicted by the world, 
harrassed bj^ the devil, 
and persecuted even by 
God himself. — 5. Early, 
very early, he felt the ef- 
fects of the world's un- 
deserved malice. And 
his rough brethren the 
Jews were so highly in- 
censed against him, as to 
embrue their hands in 
his blood. And where- 
fore did ye thus hate 
him, O ye malicious 
Jews? It was because you 
gloried in your birth- 
right, and could not en- 
dure that the kingdom of 
God should, according 
to his doctrine, be taken 
from you, and transfer- 
red to the despised Gen- 
tiles, though you had 
justly forfeited all title 
to such a glorious pre- 
rogative by your great 
contempt of spiritual and 



The HISTORY of JACOB, 



g§ 



profane Esau, to thwart 
the unalterable decree - r 
for the eider shall serve 
the younger, and the 
posterity of Jacob shall 
put garrisons in thy 
strongholds.— —7* With 
his staff he passed over 
Jordan, an exile from his 
father's house ; he serv- 
ed for a wife, and re- 
turned again with much 
substance, having multi- 
plied into two bands. 

8. He spoiled Laban of 
his substance and idols* 
But when he followed af- 
ter him, to rummage Ja- 
cob's tents, he found no- 
thing that belonged to 
him. And when he de- 
parted from Jacob, the 
angels of God met him, 
and he called the place 
Mahanaim. But the con- 
flict which Jacob had 
with God was by far the 
most mysterious afflic- 
tion. Never was the pat- 
riarch in greater distress. 



heavenly blessings.— 

6. But be of good cheer, 
ye children of Jesus 
Christ, your Lord and 
Master has overcome the 
world. And the time 
shall come , when the 
saints of the Most High 
shall take the kingdom ; 
and it shall be said, Who 
is this that eometh from 
Edom, with died gar- 
rnents from Bozrah I 

7. With the staff of his 
cross he passed over the 
Jordan of death ; and 

in exile from 
heaven, his Father's 
house, he took on him 
the form of a servant, 
(such was his love to the 
church) ; and afterwards 
he was followed by the 
two bands of Jews and 
Gentiles.- =—8. The dev- 
il suspecting that this was 
the strong man who was 
to spoil his goods, 
utterly abolish the idols, 
fiercely assaulted hi 



&j A 



40 



TYPICAL PERSONS, 



Retired from his family, but when the prince of 
and ail alone, expecting this world came unto him 
his brother Esau to come in the day of his tempta- 
upon him with four hun- tion, he found nothing in. 
dred armed men, he him ; and when he left 
pours out his prayer to ©ur Saviour, the angels 
God; and there wrestled came and ministered un« 
a man with him til! the to him. — But the con- 
breaking of the day, to filet which our Lord had 
whom he wept, and made with the wrath of God, 
supplication. But at last was the greatest of all 



he is victorious ; his life 
is preserved ; and he ob- 
tains the blessing. 



his afflictions, It was 
the lively feeling of al- 
mighty anger that made 
him sweat blood : when 
retired from his disci- 
ples, and expecting the 
multitude to come upon. 
him with swords and 
staves, he otfered up 
prayers and supplications 
with strong cries and 
tears, to him who was a- 
ble to save him from 
death. But at last he 
prevails to obtain the 
blessing, having endur- 
ed the \n rath of God. 

And as Jacob was obliged to go down to Egypt in 
his old age, to prescrye his life from a cruel famine ; 



The HISTORY of JACOB, 41 

so Christ Jesus fled into Egypt when he was a child, 
to preserve his life from a bloody tyrant. After- 
wards was the saying of the prophet fulfilled, Out of 
Egypt have I called my Son.* And lastly, As Ja- 
cob left the world blessing his sons ; so Christ left 
the world blessing his apostles. 

But he was also a type of the mystical body of 
Christ, and indeed of every saint, — whether you 
view him as chosen in the womb, — striving at his 
birth, — buying the birthright, — meeting the angels 
of God, — wrestling with the Angel of the covenant, 
— or buried in Canaan after a troublesome life. Be- 
hold in all these an emblem of every one who is aa 
Israelite indeed. 

His election in the womb signifies how all the seed 
of Jacob are chosen to salvation. Was not Esau 
Jacob's brother t his elder brother, and indeed a 
stronger child ? for his hairy skin portended the vi- 
gor of his constitution. Yet was he not chosen to 
inherit the patriarchal blessing. The happy per- 
sons whom he chases to inherit the blessings of e- 
teraity, are so far from being better than other their 
fellow-creatures, that, for the most part, they are 
greatly inferior, both in the endowments of the 
mind, and outward worldly distinctions. Even so, 
Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight if 

His struggling at his birth, when he took hold of 
his brother's heal, might be intended to signify,, 
that every true Israelite must strive, before he come 



* Matt, ii, i£v t Mai. i. 2, fcMatt. ». 2&. 

E>3 



42 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

to the possession of those blessings that are design 
ed for him in the purpose of God. Electing love 
indeed prevents, but not excludes, our fighting the 
good fight of faith, and laying hold upon eternal life* 
Miserably shall they be disappointed, who dream 
of seizing the kingdom of heaven without violence. 
When the husbandman can reasonably hope, that in- 
dolence will fill his barns with plenty ; when the soi- 
dierxan think that victory will present him with her 
palms , without striking a blow ; then may the yawn- 
ing Christian, whom it grieves to work out his own 
salvation with fear and trembling, expect to reap 
fruit unto life eternal, and tread upon the high-places 
of his spiritual foes. 

His buying the birthright for pottage, ludicrous 
as it seems, perhaps may denote the high esteem 
which all the true seed of Jacob have of spiritual 
blessings. O wretched exchange 1 to barter for the. 
satisfaction of a moment, what was more valuable 
than a hundred lives 1 Profane Esau ; was it no- 
thing valuable to inherit the blessing of Abraham, 
to be the pi ogeni or of the Messiah, and to entail 
on thy posterity the true knowledge of God ? All 
this was undervalued, when the birthright was des- 
pised. Ye Esau* of the world, take to yourselves 
your present sensual gratifications, and esteem no- 
thing good but present satisfactions, fill your bellies 
with the hidden treasure of God, and for the short- 
lived pleasures of sin, renounce your part in heaven- 
ly felicities, and bury, without one sigh, each glorw 



The HISTORY of JACOB. 4$ 

<Hi5 hope. But let the house of Israel labour for ,he 
meat that endures to everlasting life - f let them im- 
plore the cheerful light of God's countenance ; let 
them enjoy the vision of his face in righteousness > 
and when inspired with these blissful expectations* 
all sublunar)- joys shall in comparison be no more re- 
garded, than was thy pottage, Jacob, in comparison 
of ihe birthrights 

His receiving the blessing from his father in the 
garments of Esau, with which his mother arrayed 
him, may be viewed as a faint shadow of our re* 
ceiving the blessing from God in the garments of 
Jesus Christ, which all the children of the promise do 
wear. When found in Christy and clothed wkh the 
perfumed robes of righteousness imputed, the gar- 
ments of cur elder brother, our gracious God and 
Father will forget our sinful imperfections, and be* 
holding no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverscness in Is- 
rael, will bless us with all spiritual blessings in Christ 
Jesus. It was not the feigned venison, but the bor- 
rowed garments, that procured the blessing. Evea 
so we are not blessed by God for our good works s 
however pleasing unto him, but for the righteous* 
fcessof our Redeemer ; for should we presume to 
appear in the presence of Jehovah without this most 
necessary precaution, of putting on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, our performances, however specious, could 
meet with no acceptance, but the evil which Jacob- 
gready feared would come upon us ; we would pro- 
cure to ourselves a curse, and not a blessing* 



& TYPICAL PERSONS. 

His meeting the angels, after his interview with 
Laban, when he called the name of the place Ma- 
hanaim, was not only designed to animate his cour- 
age amidst the dangers that surrounded him in that 
journey ; but also to hint unto us what is the distin- 
guished privilege of all the children of Jacob in their 
militant state : for the angel of the Lord encamps 
round about them that fear him.* The despiser of 
his birthright, whose resentment Jacob dreaded, 
comes indeed escorted by four hundred men. But 
what were these to Jacob's invisible guard ? This 
honour have all his saints, who come to the innume- 
rable company of angels, the ministrant spirits of 
the heirs of saltation, and the bright guardians of 
the just. 

His wrestling with the Angel, who doubtless was 
the Captain of the host that appear ea 10 him in the 
likeness of a man (a prelude of his future incarna.- 
tion) , over whom he obtained the victory, and from 
whom he received the blessing, when he wept, and 
made supplication, — may be con d as a figure 

of that great fight of afflictioh wh'nh the beloved of 
the Lord may lay their account with in the night of 
this world. Even the Lord himself may seem to 
stand against them with his righ hand as an adver- 
sary. But the mighty wrestler with Jacob assum- 
ed no greater strength than might be overcome ; o 
God that is faithful, will proportion the trials of his 
people to the strength he has given them* Ana oy 



The HISTORY of JACOB. 4* 

their strength- {which yet is not their own) they shall 
prevail ; for he that is in appearance against, is re- 
ally for them,tftnd stronger for them *han against 
them. If he casts down, it is but with his left, but 
he upholds them with his right hand. Mysterious, 
but comforting truth ! hard to express, bu* sweet g 
know. Never was Jacob more happy, than when 
he seemed mos- miserable ; nor more strong, than 
when he seemed most weak ; for at once he was 
lamed and blessed, conquered and victorious. A 
lively emblem this of what usually hefals the rem- 
nant of Jacob I for " happy is the man whom God 
corrected." The love of the Lord towards ihe 
children of Israel is written in the most rigorous dis- 
pensations : when they are weak, then they arc 
strong ; and what he takes away from ihem in one 
way, he restores to advantage in another. O happy 
chey who think it no solitude to be alone with Goi ! 
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O duty of pray- 
er I He who can prevail with God, needs not fear 
that man should prevail against him. 

His burial in Canaan, the land of promise, after 
a life of singular afflicti n, may represent the disiin* 
guished lot of ail the faithful, crosen, and called, who, 
after a short course of pilgrimage, harrassed with 
anxious cares and sorrows, do rest in the promised 
land of the heavenly Canaan. And truly, ihebeloved 
Jacob had shared no happiness, to be compared w th 
hated Esau's, if in this life only he had hope. Who 
would not rather judge, that Esau was beloved -of 



46 TYPICAL PERSONS- 

God, and Jacob hated, if love or hatred could cei*- 
iainly be known by that which happens under the 
sun ? And were the Christian to bound his views 
by the grave, should his hopes terminate in death ; 
ah ! then, he were the most wretched of his race, 
and at his best esiate he were altogether vanity. 

O eternal joys above 1 O glorious rewards ! re-* 
served in heaven for those who seek for glory, 
honour, and blissful immortality, by patient con- 
tinuance in well-doing; without you, even pure 
and undefiled religion could scarce compensate 
the afflictions of this present life, to which we are 
exposed as men and Christians. But these assert 
the glorious prerogative of religion, and the superi- 
or happiness of saints. Though the days of their 
pilgrimage, like Jacob's, be few and evil ; yet still 
they are a people saved by the Lord, who has blessed 
them, and they shall be blessed. 

THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH, 

THE history of Joseph's life is doubtless one of 
the most entertaining and eventful of which 
all antiquity can boast. Upon it are inscribed, in 
most lively characters, at once the terrible effects of 
malice and envy, and the watchful card of Provi- 
dence over the cause of injured virtue and inno- 
cence. But the most remarkable thing that claims 
our attention here, is the surprising likeness betwixt 
the whole narrative and the history of Jesus Christ. 



The HISTORY of JOSEPH. 47 

of whom it may truly be said, The archers have 
sorely grieved him, but his bow abode in its strength, 
and ihe arms of his hands were made strong by the 
.hands of the mighty God of Jacob.* 

He was the beloved -on of his father Jacob : and 
truly he seems io have been worthy of such pater- 
nal favour ; for detesting the wickedness of his 
brethren, he reported their faults. This 3 with his 
prophetic dreams of which he told them, so stung 
them with envy and resentment, that they could not 
speak peaceably to him, nor look at him but with 
disgust and aversion. Their causeless anger is 
turned into obdurate haired of their brother, and 
soon they find an opportunity of wreaking their 
bloody rage. He is sen' by his fa her to inquire of 
their welfare when feeding their flocks in the wil- 
derness ; and dreading no harm, as he was innocent, 
and s- ranger to offence, he carefully inquires after 
them, till at last he finds hem out. But, ah I He 
looked for brethren, and behold murderers ! Wrath 
is cruel, and anger is outrageous : but who can stand 
before baleful envy ? r Tran ported with this blind 
fury they not only f rget that ihey are brethren, but 
forget that they are men ; and take horrid counsel 
against the darling youth, to embrue their hand-- in 
his guiltless blood. One more merciful 'han the 
rest ni'ves, that hey cast him into a pit, raiher than 
murder him nutright : for he intended by this arti- 
fice a f once to iudulge their iury and to elude ii 5 by 

f Gen, xlix, 23, 24. f Frov. xxvii. 4. 



4a TYPICAL PERSONS. 

finding means tg re tore him again to his father.— 
The motion takes* They strip him of his ga merit 
with many colours ; and regardless of the anguish 
of his soul, they le him down iuto the pit ; but 
themselves, O cruel monsters ! sat down to eat and 
drink, for they were n t grieved for the affliction uf 
J .seph.* Here they d* signed to leave him to per- 
ish miserably in m uruful solitude ; but Providence 
reserved h,m to bet er thing* ; for lifting up their 
eyes, they *ee approaching a company of merchant*?, 
who were of IshmaePs race and carried balm and 
myrrh from moun Gilead into Egypt. t Then did 
his savage brethren resolve to sell Egypt's future 
lord to ;he mere, ants for twenty pieces of silver : 
and to cioke their matchless villainy, vbey dipt his 
garmen in blood, and shewing it <o i is father, pre- 
tended that some wi d beast had devoured him.— - 
Such were once the men, O ye Jews* in whom ye 
glory as y* ur progenitors! The innocent sufferer 
is -old a second time o Poliph**r in Egypt, in v hose 
service he acqui: ed h nisJ.i so well, as to gain the 

I graces of hi* mas er who reposed ifl him the 
nio.st civ ire confidence, and in runted him with the 
sole maing.ment of tils affair*. But soon, alas ! 
the temptation-' of his mi. 4 tress are likely to prove 
no les dangettous fthstp the malice of his bn thren. — r 
He preserved indeed his chastity by the fear of the 
Lord; but incurring the un leseryed s ispici n of a 

• crime, he is comm'n ec] to the dungeon b/ bis 

c Ainoi vi. 6. f Gen* x>jcvi.i. 2f. 



The HISTORY of JOSEPH. 49 

too partial master, as before he had bean cast into* 
the pit by his cruel brethren. But the king sent and 
loosed him, and the ruler of the people set him free.* 5 
For as he exposed himself to all his troublesome ad- 
ventures, by telling his own dreams ; so, by inter- 
preting the dreams of others, he laid the foundation 
of his subsequent grandeur. On sudden his prison 
is turned a palace, his irons a chain of geld. Poti- 
phar's servant is become Potiphar's lord. He whose 
feet were hurt with fetters, now binds the princes at 
pleasure, and teaches the senators wisdom.t And 
as he moves along the crouded streets, a herald pro- 
claims before him, Bow the knee. J And now he 
feeds from his hoarded granaries the starving nations ; 
for he wisely provided against the approach of the fam- 
ine he foretold. The subjects of Pharaoh acknowl- 
edge him the saviour of their lives. His unkind breth- 
ren, impelled by hunger, and hard necessity, come 
also among the supplicants 5 to fulfil his dreams, 
which they once vainly imagined they had rendered 
for ever abortive. He remembered the traces of 
their countenances ; and by various harsh methods, 
he explores the sincerity of their repentance, and ac- 
quaints himself with the circumstances of their fam- 
ily. At last his bowels yearning towards them, and 
piteous of their misery, as being sufficiently chastis- 
ed, he makes himself known to them ; buries in ob- 
livion their past misdemeanours ; and transports 
them to dwell with him, where he nourishes thenv 

* Esal, cv. 2<t. f Ver. 18 22. t Gen. xit. 43. 

E 



30 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

like a father in the midst of a terrible and extensive 
famine. And thus what was intended by the wick- 
edness of men as the means of extirpating the name 
of Joseph out of the earth, was over-ruled by the 
wisdom of Goc\ for bringing about his glorious ex- 
altation, for savng the lives of much people and 
even the lives of those who sought his death. 

Which things are an allegory. For Jesus Chrst 
is the true Joseph, if you view him as a beloved 
Son ; an affectionate brother ; a trusty servant ; an 
illuminated prophet ; a resister of temptations ; a 
forgiver of injuries ; but chiefly if you consider 
him as an innocent sufferer j an exalted Prince ; 
and a universal Saviour. 

Like Joseph, he was a beloved Son, whom Gcd 
the Father has blessed above all his brethren. Ja- 
eob made for Joseph a garment of divers colours ; 
and God prepared for Christ a body curiously 
wrought in the lower pans of the earth. Like Jo- 
seph he is an affectionate brother. He come to seok 
lis brethren in the wilderness of this world, though 
they received him not. He knows them when they 
know not him ; and hi la vermi tc yards them, 

even when he seems severe. He may deal roughly 
with them at first hut foe will have mercy upon them 
At (he last. He lib' rally supplier* their wants w'tho\U 
money and without ppice ; and at last will bring 
them to dwell with him in the heavenly Canaan* 
where they shall behold his glory, and be abundanr 
satisfied with the fatness ot* his house. Like Jo* 



The HISTORY of JOSEPH. si 

seph, he was a trusty servant, acquitting himself 
dexterously in every part of the work that was giv- 
en him to do : even as the prophet also foretels, Be- 
hold my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be ex- 
alted, he shall be extolled, and be very high.* Like 
Joseph, he is a most illuminated prophet, in whom 
the Spirit of God is,— none so discreet and wise ashe> 
—the true Zaphnathpaaneah, or revealer of secrets, 
who is worthy to take the sealed book of God's decrees, 
and open its seven seals. Like Joseph, he was a resist- 
cr of temptations ; for he was solicited in vain to 
epiritual adultery by the great enemy of salvation. 
when he said unto him, All these will I give thee, 
if thou wilt f?il down and worship me.t Though 
this harlot world hath cast down, wounded and slain 
many strong men, our Joseph overcame her ; his 
heart declined not to her ways : he went not astray 
in her paths, though in the encounter he was stript 
of his momii-fe, which he willingly resigned. Like 
Joseph, he was and is a forglver of injuries : for as 
on the cross he implored forgiveness to his murder- 
ers with his expiring breath ; so on the throne he 
gave repentance unto Israel, and remission of sin, 
to many of them whose hand had been very deep in 
that bloody tragedy of his crucifixion being brought 
to a sincere profession, that, Verily, they were guil- 
ty concerning th:;r brother, J and the blood which 
they impiously shed, spoke better things than that 
*f Abel. 

* Is, Hi. 23. f Matt. iv. 9. $ Gen. xlii. 2i» 

E2 



52 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

But chiefly let us view him as an innocent suffer- 
er, whose sufferings issued in glory to himself, and 
universal good to men. Joseph is mortally hated 
of his brethren, and the butt of their envy, because 
he exposed their wicked courses, and foretold his 
own advancement. For these same reasons was Je- 
sus Christ hated by the Jews ; and Pilate knew that 
for envy they delivered him. Joseph was derided 
of his brethren as an idle fantastic dreamer ; and Je- 
sus Christ was esteemed a doting enthusiast, a mad- 
man, and one beside himself. Joseph's brethren 
conspired against him to take away his life ; and of 
Jesus Christ it is prophesied, Why do the Heathen 
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing, to plot 
against the Lord, and against his Anointed:* Jo* 
seph's brethren stript him of his garments which his 
father made for him ; and of Jesus Christ it is said, 
They parted my garments among them, and cast 
lots for my vesture. t Joseph was cast into a pit, 
but he remained not long there ; Jesus Christ was 
laid in the grave, but he saw no corruption. — Jo- 
seph was sold for a servant by the advice of the pat- 
riarch Judah ; and Jesus Christ was, by the apos- 
tle Judas, sold for thirty pieces of silver, the price 
of a slave : a goodly price he was prized at by them ! 
Joseph was unjustly accused in Egypt, and cast into 
a dungeon with two noted criminals, Pharaoh's but- 
ler and baker ; Jesus Christ was unj us dy condemn- 
ed in Canaan, and crucified between two thieves.— 

•Ps. ii. 12. t P*. xxii. 18. 



The HISTORY of JOSEPH. S3 

Joseph adjudged the one criminal to death, and the 
other to life, from the same omens ; Jesus Christ 
adjudged one of the thieves to everlasting life, while 
the other was allowed to perish after the same de» 
sarts. Toseoh intreated the oerson whom he dcliv- 
ered, to remember him when he came to his glory ; 
but the person whom Jesus Christ delivered prayed 
him, O Lord remember me when thou comest into 
thy kingdom.* Joseph indeed could bat fcretel his 
companion's deliverance ; but Christ Jesus effected. 
bv his own power, what he foretold, To-day shalt 
thou be with me in paradise. t 

Such were the patriarch's unparalleled afflictions ; 
but as he soon emerged from these deep plunges of 
adversity, becoming, instead, of a furlorn prisoner, 
a prime minister of state ; so Jesus Christ was tak- 
en from prison and from judgment, and receives 
from God the Father, honour and glory, and a name 
above every name : that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in 
earth, and things under the ec-rth ; and every tongue 
confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory -of 
God the Father. :£ Behold, ye mistaken Jews, how 
vain were all your machinations to frustrate his pre- 
dictions ! Even you yourselves became subservient 
to fulfil the grand design, when you killed the Prince 
of life, who was, by suffering death, to enter into 
his glory. Here the patriarch's speech to his peni- 
tent brethren may fitly be applied, As for you, ye 

* Luke xxiii. 42 1 f Ver. 43. $ Fail. ii*. $>. 10. j t t 

E3 



54 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, 
to bring to pass as at this day, to save much people 
alive.* 

For, as the sufferings and glory of Joseph issued 
in the common salvation of the lives of Pharaoh's 
subjects, and the family of Jacob, who was a Syrian 
ready to perish ; even so thy sufferings, and thy 
glory, O thou once humbled, but now exalted Re- 
deemer, were ordained for the salvation of the world, 
both Jews and Gentiles, from a far more dreadful de- 
struction than a famine of bread or water I Go unto 
this Joseph for the supply of your numerous wants, 
ye who are ready to perish. His fullness shall nev- 
er be exhausted, be their number ever so great who 
receive out of it. O that his glory might be the joy 
of our heart, and the grand theme of every tongue I 
With what cheerfulness ought we to forsake the stuff 
of all terrestrial things, when Joseph is alive,that we 
may be with him, where he is, and enjoy these bless- 
ings that are " on the head of Jesus Christ, and on 
the crown of the head of him that was separated 
from his brethren." 

7. THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 

THOUGH Christ and Moses may seem indeed, 
in one view,- to be as unlike one another as the 
gospel and the law ; as the ministration of righte- 
ousness and the ministration of condemnation : we 
may, however, observe in the character and history 
tfthk extraordinary man, a great resemblance to 

• Uca I. to. 



The HISTORY of MOSES. * 55 

those of Jesus Christ ; whether we consider him as 
a deliverer, a mediator, a lawgiver, or a prophet. 

First. Let us view Moses as a deliverer of his na- 
tion from the bondage of Egypt. To this end he 
was born ; and when his life was sought by a bloody- 
tyrant, who murdered his fellow-infants, he was mi« 
raculously preserved by his reputed mother, who 
gave him a royal education. But when he was 
eome to years, and capable of judging for himself, 
he despised the pleasures of a court, and chose rath- 
er to claim kindred with oppressed slaves, because 
they were the people of God, than with the daugh- 
ter of Pharaoh, by whose right perhaps he might 
have inherited the crown of Egypt. At last, though 
his very brethren thrust him away, saying, Who 
made thee a ruler and a judge ?* he accomplishes 
their rescue from the land of Nile, spoiling the E« 
gyptians of their gold and silver, destroying their 
first-born, and drowning in the Red Sea the flower 
of their army ; and aU this by means of the blood of 
a lamb which he shed, and by his wonder-working 

rod. Even so the birth of the deliverer, who 

came to Zion to rescue from the oppression of far 
worse enemies than the Egyptians or the Romans, 
was signalized with the cruel butchering of the in- 
fants in Bethlehem by Herod's ministers of blood. — - 
But the persecuted babe finds a safe retreat in Egypt* 
whither he was conveyed by the guardian care of 
his supposed father. And when he was come ta 

* Acts vii, 55. 



56 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

years, he disdained an earthly crown, when the Jews 
would have taken him by force, and made him a 
king ; as before he had in a sort left for a tVme the 
court of heaven, the bosom of his Father, and the 
songs of hymning cherubim, to endure, in these re- 
gions of mortality, affliction for the people of God : 
for as Moses had a respect to the recompence of re- 
ward; so he, for the joy that was set before him, 
endured the cross, and despised the shame.* And 
though his brethren understood not at first, that God, 
by his hand, would deliver them t and refused him 
as an impostor ; at last he accomplishes their re- 
demption from the cruel bondage of the devil, whose 
power he destroyed, by shedding his own blood, and 
by sending the rod of his strength out of Zion. By 
these despised means does the Captain of salvation 
bring many sons to glory, through raging seas of 
affliction, through waste and howling wildernesses of 
various temptations, till they arrive in that happy 
country which God has espied for them, which is 
the glory of all lands. 

As by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out ©f 
Egypt ; it is further to be observed, that he acted 
the part of a mediator between God and Israel, both 
when they fought with Amnlek, when they received 
the law, and when they made the calf in Horeb : in 
all which instances he may be viewed v.s a lively 
type of the one Mediator between God and man, 
the man Christ Jeius. When the militant church 

• Heb xii. 2. f A cts vii. *5« 



The HISTORY of MOSES. H 

is fighting in the valley of this world, as an Amalek 
shall never be wanting from generation to genera- 
tion, their victory depends not so much on their 
own prowess and martial skill, as on the lifting up 
the hands of our great Intercessor, who like Mo- 
ses, appears in the presence of God upon a high 
mountain and eminent, even far above all heavens. 
Behold, all ye who are fighting the good fight c£ 
faith, hew your great Mediator's hands are lifted 
up towards the throne of God; The hands of Mo* 
ses could not long endure to be stretched out ; they 
were heavy and weak> and behoved to be strength- 
ened and supported. But Jesus Christ, he falnteth 
not, nehher is weary, though his hands be stretched 
out still : therefore shall ye prevail who fight under 
his banner, and have reason to say, Thanks be fcrit# 
God, who giveth us the victory ihrough Jesus Christ 
our Lord.* — And as the law was ordained by an- 
gels in the hand of Moses as a mediator ; (for they 
to whom it was published were afraid by reason of 
the fire, and dreadful sound which ;hey heard, and 
went not up to the mount); so Jesus Christ our 
Lord stands betwixt the terrible majesty of an an- 
gry God, and feeble guilty rnan ? unable to appear in 
the presence of his glory : like Moses, he engaged 
his heart to approach unto God. But Moses only 
reported the law to the people, he fulfilled the law, 
Moses quaked, and Christ was sore amazed, inso* 
much that he sweated blood from all the pores of his 

* i Cor. xv. 57. 



68 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

body. Be not afraid, ye redeemed of the Lord, 
" Ye believe in God, believe also in him." Though 
our God be a consuming fire, he all-gracious Medi- 
ator hah quenched the flames, and husht the storm 
of wrath by h's seasonable interposition, and the 
fiery law is now turned into a directing light. — And 
lastly, he acted the part of a mediator, when they 
made the calf in Horeb. When the anger of the 
Lord was justly incensed against them for that en- 
orm us crime, Moses said unto the people, I will 
go unto the Lord, peradvemure I shall make an a- 
tonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto 
the Lord, and said, This people have sinned a 
grievous sia. But now, if thou wilt forgive their 
sin: if not, blot me out of the book which thou 
hast written,* Perhaps he intended to seek, that 
the almighty vengeance might rather fall on his own 
head, ihan that the whole nation should perish, 
though he was not certain whether the offered pro- 
pitiator would be accepted. But Jesus Christ has 
not only offered him: elf to die for ihe guilty race, 
but has actually made the atonement which Moses 
pr posed 10 make, and is set forth for a propitiation 
through faith in his blood. 

Next, let us view him as a lawgiver, as the chil- 
dren of Israel bung, Moses commanded us a law, 
the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob : and 
he was king in J shurun.t Bu we Christians may 
say, in the language of the prophet, The Lord is 

• Ejod. muni. 30 31 . 3*. | Deat. xxxni.4 S* 



The HISTORY of MOSES, S9. 

•ur judge, the Lord is our king, he lord is our law* 
giver : he will save u .* A law is now gone forth 
ofZion; but, Moses, not like thine, consisting of 
carnal ordinances —a law not o r work but faith, 
— -a law :'or which he is^sof the Gentiles si all wait, 
—a law which is not so much obeyed by doing, as 
by believing, — and which never will stand iu need 
of reformation or repeal} 

B-t, astly, let us view him in his prophetic char- 
acter of whom U is te> ified, Tnere arose no propl> 
e - s'* ace in Israel like uno Mose< ', to whom the 
Lord spoke lace t face.f Ye; Tlo^ei truly said 
e fttf ers, A prophet she i vx,e Lord 5 our 
God raisr: up unto yo a if your brethren, like unto 
mi ; afcd him shall . ou hear in all -hng.4 Though 
w hid sot the express authority of an apostle, for 
tie application of this prediction, totfce Apostle and 
High Priest of oar profession, we can scarcely be at 
loss o see how it can agree to non^ other. He, he 
is hat prophet (hat :hould come unto |he world^ of 
whnra Moses wrote, and who is like unto him, if 

you consider The stock from whence he sprang; 

for he w?s raised from among his brethren, n >t as. 
surning the nature of angds, but the nature of man, 
and of the seed of Abraham.— - — The meekness or 
h s temper, which excelled the meekness of Moses^ 
a^ far as the meekness of Moses excelled the meek- 
ness oi other men. The Hebrew lawgiver, meek 
as he was, cannot be altogether freed from sallies of 
* Js.xxsiii. %%. f Deut. xsxiv, 1 Q. i&eut.jEviii. 15? 



00 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

impatience ; but the meek and lowly Jesus, wh$ 
calls us to learn of him, was never indecently trans- 
ported wivh rage, nor uttered one word unadvisedly 
with his lips, though upon the most provoking occa- 
sion. The lustre of his face. For not tomen-* 

tion hi* transfiguration on the mount, when his face 
did shine as the sun, he is in hL divine person the 
brightness of his Father's glory, which, like Moses, 
he covered with the vail of his flesh, when he de- 
scended into our world, that he might be qualified 
for holding famTiar converse with men upon earth, 
his terror not making them afraid. For if the face 
of Moses the servant, did shine with such dazzling 
glory, by a short abode, in ihe presence of Jehovah 
on an earthly mount, that the X<raeFtes could not 
endure to behold him withoui. a vail ; how much 
less could the feeble eyes of moral men have endur- 
ed the face of Christ the Son, who abide th from ev- 
erla ting : n the presence of Jehovah, was daily his 
delight, had he shone forth, in all the blaze of -Dei- 
ty, wuhov.t the thick vail of hie fle h? The clear- 
ness of his matBfefctatioris. Of Most it is 
said " With him I will s^eak mouth to mou h, e- 
ven apparently, and n«>t hi dark speeches, and the 
similiiude of >he Lord shall he behold ;" whereas 
it was usual for the prophets of inferior rank, to re- 
ceive the intimations of the divine will in dreams 
when they were asleep, and ecstacies when awake. 

of this prophet in the Netf-Tfestamettl-eh 
his harbinger declares, No man hath seiert God at 



The HISTORY of MOSES. 61 

any time ; but the only begotten Son, who is in the 

bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.* His 

fidelity in executing his commission: for, The words 
the Father gave unto him, he gave unto them ; and 
as the Faiher gave him commandment, so he spake, 
Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a ser- 
vant, but Christ as a Son over his own house. t 

The oppositionhe met with foom Jews and Gentiles. 
He endured the contradiction of sinners against 
himself, even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Mo- 
ses. And as his nearest relations quarrelled with 
him for marrying Zipporah the Ethiopian woman, 
so did the Jews. with Christ, for espousing the Gen- 
tile church. — —The miracles he wrought. u It was 
never so seen in Israel." Like Moses, he fed the 
Israelites in the wilderness, and their leaving was as 
miraculous as their eating. 

What Moses did Ikerally, the same Christ does 
spiritually for the beloved Israel. He sweetens 
their bitter waters ; cures their diseases ; supplies 
their wants. Like Moses, he fasted forty days ; 
and like Moses, he died at the commandment of the 
Lord. 

8. THE ORDINANCE OF THE PRIEST- 
HOOD. 

A S the sun paints the clouds with variety bf gto- 
«*■ .-*• rious colours, whien 3 in their own nature, are 
but dark and lowering vapours exhaled from the 
* John u 18. |Hcb. iii 5 6. 

F 



TYPICAL PERSONS. 

earth ; so when the Sun of righteousness arises, e- 
ven the carnal ordinances and commandments of the 
law, dark and earthly as they seem, are gilded by 
his beams, and wear a smiling appearance. By his 
kindly influence, who is the light of the world, the 
most barren places of the scripture rejoice, and blos- 
som as the rose. What portion of sacred writ is 
more apt to be perused without edification and de- 
light, than what relates to the Levitical priesthood ; 
the qualifications of their persons, their apparel, their 
consecration, and different parts of their function ? 
And indeed u must be confessed a very hard task 
to reconcile with the wisdom of God the injoining 
such numberless rites, purely for their own sake. — 
Eut when we consider that Aaron, and his success- 
ors, were figures of our great High Priest, we must 
acknowledge, that these injunctions are neither un- 
worthy of God, nor useless to man, but are profita- 
ble for doctrine, and instruction in righteousness. — ? 
We shall instance in a few things. 

And, first, we shall take notice of the laws relat- 
ing; to th: persons of Aaron and his sons. Whoso- 
ever he was that approached to God in the charac- 
ter of a high priest, he behoved, according to the 
of Moses, to be of the stock of Israel, the tribe 
of Levi, the family cf Aaron, having his genealogy 
well atteUcd. his body sound, his life temperate, 
[(or he was not to drink wine, or other intoxicating 
liquors) ; his wile must be either a virgin, or the 
Lqw of a priest, but by no means a divorced v. «> 



The ORDINANCE of PRIESTHOOD. 63 

man, or a harlot : and, lastly, it was absolutely for- 
bidden that he should go cut of the sanctuary to 
moum for the dead, unless they were his nearest re- " 
laticns. Let us apply these tilings to our Hirh 
Priest. It must indeed be acknowledged, that he 
was neither of the tribe of Levi, nor family of A a- 
r on ; for, It is evident our Lord sprang cut of Ju«* 
dah, and Moses says nothing of the priesthood be- 
longing to that tribe.* In this respect, to be sure, 
he differs from them in a very essential point frhieh, 
kowever it disqualified him from: ing in the 

temple, [for if he were en earth he should not be a 
priest) ;t yet does not in the least infer his inc 
ty to be a priest of a higher order than the order of 
Aaron, that is of the order of JV1 

ed in Gne person the priest and : . The char* 

acter and office of a Levitical priest he oever assume 
ed when he was upon earih, as indeed he coi 
have any claim unto it. Wha* uhe say then I 

That he is inferior to Aaron and his successors upon 
this account ? Nay, the difference of his tribe is 
most convincing proof of the supereminence of his 
order. Like Aaron, he was taken from among men, 
and was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and never any 
priest of them all could boast of such illustrious 
pedigree as Jesus Christ. Which of them al- was 
born of a virgin? and to which of them said *od a; 
smv time, Thou art my Sen, this cay have I :: : 
ten thee ?£ The genealogy of the aneie ;5ts 

* Hsb. vli. 14. t Chap. via. 4. * | Ileb. ii. 5» 

F2 



64 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

behoved to be firmly documented ; but they had n6 
such illustrious proofs of their being the sons of Le- 
vi, as Christ had of his being the Son of God, which 
the Father attested, both by the voice from heaven^ 

and by the mighty works he enabled him to do. 

The soundness of their body was no doubt intended 
to prefigure the integrity and perfection of the soul 
of Tesus Christ : for the least deformity here had 
rendered him utterly incapable cf propitiating the 
Deity, by the sacrifice of himself: for such a high 
priest became us, who, though falsely accused of 
many sins, was never convinced of any, but was ho- 
ly, harmless, undented, separate from sinners,* and 
a Lamb without blemish, and without spot even in 
the pure eyes cf God. Their restriction to mar- 
ry a wife in her virginity, may perhaps denote, that 
the Iranian nature, which our great High Priest, Je- 
sus the Son of God, deigned to w r ed to his divine 
person, was not deflowered with sin, but a pure, in. 
corrupted, and holy thing. But, beyond all doubt, 
we are natively led to think of the whole church, and 
every member of that society, being presented as 
chaste virgins unto Christ. In vain does the harlot- 
church of Rome, that great whore that sits on many 
waters, claim the high prerogative of being the on- 
ly spouse of Christ. Hear what the apostle declares 
of the followers of the Lamb, These are they which 
were not defiled with women, for they are virgins : 
these were redeemed from among men, being the 

* Herb. yii. 26* 



The ORDINANCE of PRIESTHOOD. 65 

first-fruits to God, and So the Lamb.*- The ab- 
stinence from wine and strong drink, which was 
commanded, was not only designed to inculcate the 
strictest temperance, (which is a most necessary vir- 
tue to the discharge of any important trust that re- 
quires the faculties of the mind to be in their most 
vigorous state) ; but it may be also viewed as an im. 
plicit intimation of that perfect command of him- 
self, which our great High Priest had in the dis- 
charging of his office, never forgetting what he was 
about in the smallest instance, being always found 
of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, but 
by no means a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, as 
the hypocritical Pharisees maliciously affirmed. — ■ 
The prohibition of going out of the sanctuary to 
mourn for the dead, was a prediction, that when Je- 
sus Christ should pass into the heavenly sanctuary, 
he should leave all his sorrows behind him, and 
dwell for ever in the presence of God, where there 
is fullness of joy. Moreover, it clearly signifies, 
that he was to abolish death and the grave. Hence- 
forth let no unmanly tear be shed for the blessed 
dead, who die in the Lord. That most calamitous 
event to the eye of sense, is, to the eye of faith, the 
most happy revolution in the lot of the just. 

Nor are the laws about their priestly garments 
less instructive and significant. The curious mate- 
rials of the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet^ 
might represent the unsearchable riches of Christy 

Rev. xiy 4. 

F3 



66 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

and the lustre of those divine graces which adorned 
his sacred humanity. — The names of the twelve 
tribes he bore first upon his shoulders, and then up- 
on his breastplate, as a memorial before the Lord 
continually, engraven on precious stones, and dis- 
posed in comely order, is no obscure emblem of the 
saints, whom our High Priest carries both on the 
shoulders of his almighty power, and on the breast 
of cordial love, according to the most pathetic pray- 
er of the spouse ; Set me as a seal upon thine heart, 
as a seal upon thine arm.* — These names were en- 
graven on precious stones : for such are all his 
saints, though disallowed of men, and trampled un- 
der foot as naughty pebbles ; yet are they chosen of 
God, and precious, and they shall be his in the day 
that he makes up his jewels. — No tribe was want- 
ing in that most costly breastplate ; for Jesus Christ 
knows them by name whom he redeems, both great 
and small, and there is no respect of persons. — -They 
were arranged in comely order ; for he is not the 
God of confusion, but of order, as in all the churches 
of the saints. t— They were firmly set, and not slight- 
ly put into the breastplate ; for all the faithful are so 
firmly united unto Jesus Christ, that not the small- 
est jewel can be picked from the breastplate of oiw 
Aaron, by the joint efforts of earth and hell. — L 
not lawful for the Israelites to enter into the 
most holy place in their own persons, but in the per- 
ir high priest they entered every year, as 

4 toog vil 6 | Cor. *lv 33. 



The ORDINANCE of PRIESTHOOD. 67 

their names were graven on his shoulders and heart, 
and presented unto JEHOVAH. Even so, in Je- 
sus Christ, the holy Christian nation, who live upon 
the earth, are entered into the holiest of all, and e- 

ven sat down with him in heavenly places. Shall 

we mention next the Urim and the Thummim that 
Moses was commanded to put into the breastplate 
of Aaron ? Be it so, we cannot certainly determine 
the nature or form of this divine workmanship, de- 
noted by such an uncommon phrase ; we are cer- 
tain, however, that in Jesus Christ we have that 
priest who stands up with Urim and Thummim; and 
bears the judgment of Israel before the Lord contin- 
ually. In him are found the clearest light of wis- 
dom, and the greatest perfection of holiness. In 
him that prayer is fully answered, Give the king thy 
judgments, O Lord, and the king's son thy right- 
eousness.* The- curious girdle signifies the alac- 
rity wherewith our High Priest discharged every 
part of his office ; for girding up the loins of his 
mind, he did, with all his might, what his hand 
found. Aaron's girdle was indeed of costly texture, 
gold and purple, blue and scarlet. But of Jesus 
Christ it was prophesied, Faithfulness shdl be the 
g'rdle of his loins, and righteousness the girdle of 
his reins. t The beloved apostle John beheld him 
eqnipt with this priestly ornament, when he saw him 
in the visions of God walking in the midst of the sev- 
en golden candlesticks, clothed with a long white 

* P;aL Ixxii. I, f Is. xi. 5> 



68 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps 
with a golden girdle. The golden bells, suspended 
around the hem of Aaron's under-robe, may signify 
the sweet sound of the gospel which is gone into ail 
the earth. O greatly blessed are the people who 
hear this joyful sound, sweeter to the ear of faith 
than music, in its softest strains, to the ear of the 
body ; an undoubted sign that our High Priest is 
alive, though we see him not, and lives for ever in 
presence of JEHOVAH, to make intercession 
for us. 

The pomegranates that were curiously wrought 
betwixt the bells, and equal to them in number, may 
Be an emblem of those fruits of righteousnes with 

which the preaching of the gospel is attended. 

The fair mitre that adorned his head, wi.h the ven- 
erable inscription on the plate of gold surrounding 
his temples, may put us in mind of Jesus Christ, 
who is the only crowned priest ; and not only holy, 
but holiness itself unto the Lord ; yea, he is him- 
self the holy JEHOVAH, and fountain of hoi i- 
ness unto his people. For this is the name where- 
by he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. * 

Such were the garments for glory and beauty, the 
typical priesthood were commanded to wear, and 
such their mystical signification. Let us come 
next to the manner of their consecration. The 
Hebrew lawgiver is directed to bring Aaron and 
his sons to the door of the tabernad e of the con- 
• Jer, xaiii. 6. 



The ORDINANCE of PRIESTHOOD. 69 

grega ion : there they were washed with water* 
arrayed with the priestly vestments ; anointed with 
the costly oil, which it was death to counterfeit ; 
and, lastly, sanctified by the offering up of peculiar 
sacrifices, whose blood was put upon the extreme 
parts of their bodies. Though every minute cir- 
cumstance in these venerable rites may not be capa- 
ble of application to Jesus Christ, it is sufficient if 
we can observe a general analogy. Aaron was 
washed in water, to signify that he was before po- 
luted ; and Christ was baptized, not indeed because 
he was himself poluted, but as it became him to ful- 
fil all righteousness. Aaron was arrayed with the 
appointed vestmen s ; and Christ was clo hed with 
the garment of our flesh, curiously wrought in the 
lower parts of the earth. Aaron was anointed with 
oil, wherewith the inferior priests were but sprin- 
kled ; but Christ is anointed with the Holy Ghost, 
which God gives not by measure unto him. Aaron 
was consecrated with the blood of beasts ; but 
Christ was sanctified by his own blood, and made 
perfect through sufferings, by which he learned obe- 
dience, though he was the Son of God. 

The differen parts of their function is the last 
thing that demands our attention. " Every high 
priest taken from among men/' in the manner above 
described, " is ordained for men in things pertain- 
ing unto God, and to offer both gifts and sacrifices 
for sin."* This, indeed, was the most distinguish- 
*Heb. v. i. 



jro TYPICAL PERSONS. 

ing part of iheir office, and fundamental to all other 
functions that are appropriated to them. However, 
they were als6 appointed to bless the people ; to pray 
for them ; to instruct them in the knowledge of the 
divine will ; to oversee the service of the taberna- 
cle ; to blow the trumpets both in peace and war ; 
and to judge betwixt the clean and the unclean. But 
we see Jesus our High Priest, giving himself an of- 
fering and a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savour, more 
grateful unto God, and more appeasing to his in- 
censed justice, than all the victims that ever smoak- 
ed in the worldly sanctuary, or than ail the gifts that 
ever were presented there, or than all the incense 
that ever fumed from the golden censer. Put oft 
your robes, ye legal priesthood, your work is finish-^ 
ed, your office enti; ely supersceded. What ye could 
not do by multiplied obligations, Jesus Christ has 
done by one sacrifice. The vail is now rent, and 
the temple now destroyed. The shadow has given 
place o the substance. Perhaps it was not without 
a mystic signification, that Zacharias, a priest of 
Aaror^s order, and the father cf John the harbinger 
of Christ, was struck dumb when officiating in the 
temple, so that he could not speak unto the people 
when he came forth of the holy place. Might it not 
be a silent omen, that a dispensation was now com- 
mencing in the days of Messiah, wherein none of 
Aaron's order should open their mouths any more 
to bless the people, saying, The Lord bless thee, 
and keep thee : the Lord make his fcce to shine 



The HISTORY of JOSHUA. 71 

upon thee, and be gracious unto thee : the Lord 
lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee 
peace.* Jesus is that priest whom God hath sent 
to bless us ; who prays for his people ; whose lips 
keep knowledge *o instruct us in the will of God. — 
Jesus is hat priest who oversees the service of the 
tabernacle, being head over all things to the church, 
which is his body. Jesus is that priest who now 
blows the great trumpet of the gospel, and who shall 
descend shortly from heaven whh a shout, with the 
voice of the archangel, and wi Ji the trunip of God, 
to gather the congregation of the righteou . Then 
ail who have him not for their priest, to wash and 
sprinkle them with hyssop and blood, shall have him 
for Jieir priest to pronounce them utterly unclean? 

9. THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 

PHE names of Joshua and Jesus are scarcely 
X more like than their atchievernents. This 
captain, so famous in the sacred history ; was nomi- 
nated to be the successor of Moses, and ordained by 
God's command, to his high post, in the presence of 
ail the congregation of Israel, He received the 
name of Joshua before, when sent to spy out the 
land, his former name being O hea : and he is the 
first of the typical persons who was called by the ve- 
ry name, by which, in future ages, a greater Sav- 
iour than he, was commonly known. Perhaps j$ 

* Hnrab, Vf. 24. 25, 



T2 TYPICAL PERSONS, 

was not withou its meaning, that he was the ser- 
vant before he was the successor of Moses ; for it 
might signify, thai our Je us was first to become 
the servant of ihe law, before he should abolish it. 
But passing this let us take a more particular no- 
lice of the most memorable passages of that mar- 
velous campaign. 

And the first thing I hat presents itself to our 
view, is hi< pa ing .he Jordan which was miracu- 
lously driven back, o afford a safe passage to the 
chosen people. In this river, God was pleased, for 
the fi st rime, to magnify his servant Joshua in the 
sight o r aH the tribes of Israel ; and in this river it 
phased God to give th first mos' public testimony 
to Jesus Chr st, when he heavens seemed to open 
at his baptism, and the Holy Ghost descended in 
the likeness of a clove, and a voice from the excel- 
lent glory proclaimed his high character. Bu\ the 
chief thing to be observed here, is the resemblance 
betW xt the passage of Israel over Jordan into the 
promised land, under the conduct of Joshua, and 
the | -a sage of all the redeemed through death, in- 
to the heavenly inheritance. Long had they tra- 
versed the vast and howling wilderness, the haunt 
*f ravenous beasts, and poisonous serpents, where 
their hearts, many a time, were like 10 faint for 
thirst and hunger ; but now the land, flowir.g with 
milk and honev, receives t em, and their wander- 
's in the pathless desart, are forever ended. — 
Though Jordan overflows his ! auks, tl tir march is 



The HISTORY of JOSHUA. n 

not .obstructed. O powerful presence of J E H O- 
V AH ! The sea saw it, and fled, and Jordan was 
driven back.* And now they have taken their fare- 
well of the weary wilderness ; we hear no more of 
.the miraculous cloud that .conducted them, nor of 
the manna thai tied them forty years. Such is the 
safety of all true Israelites, when marching to their 
promised re st r under the conduct of the Captain of 
their salvation. Death is the Jordan through which 
they pass, from the wilderness of this world into the 
: oiui regions-bf immortality, But when they pass 
through these waters, they -shall not overflow them ; 
for he who dries up the Waters Gf the sea by his re- 
buke, will be graciously present with them, till they 
.gain the sa& shore -of Immanuei's land. Then 
shall the ordinances-be discontinued, and the Bible 
superseded, which are so necessary in their wan- 
ing state, to support their lives, and guide their 
.paths ; as the cloud vanished, and the manna staid, 
when the fine wheat of Canaan supplied the Israel- 
ites with food, according to the promise. It is not 
ses, but Joshu.?. ; who leads through Jordan.-, — 
Jesus, thou art the only conquerer of death. What 
will they do when they come to the swellings of 
Jordan, wivo are not under thy auspicious conduct? 
Thanks be to Gad who gives us this, victory over 
death ; not through Moses^ or the law, but through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. —Twelve stores are left bf 
the Hebrew captain, as a memorial oi ihh great de- 

* Ps. cxlv- I. 

G 



f4 TYPICAL PERSONS, 

Lverance ; and twelve apostles were appointed by 
the Captain of our salvation, to be witnesses of all 
things which he did, both in the land of Jews, and 
in Jerusalem. 

From the banks of Jordan, let us now come to 
the walls of Jericho, the accursed city. Never was 
town or garrison besieged in such a manner before 
or. since. No mounts are raised ; no battering- 
rams are applied to the walls; no attempts are made 
to sap the foundations ; but by the direction of the 
Lord of hosts, the army marches in silent parade 
round the walls. Their jnartial music is not the 
sound of their silver trumpets, but of ram-horns, 
blown by their priests. Ridiculous, weak, and fool- 
ish, as this new method of assault might seem to 
the unbelieving sinners of Jericho, they soon found, 
that the weakness of God is stronger than men, and 
that the mpst contemptible nieans, when God or- 
dains them, shall gain their end, in spite of all oppo- 
sition. What ailed thee, O sea, that thou Reddest ? 
Jordan, that thou wast driven back :* and ye walls 
of Jericho, that ye fell flat to the ground, when com- 
passed seven days? It was not owing to the sword of 
Israel, nor even to the sound of the trumpets, but to the 
power of Israel's God, accompanying this feeble mean 

prescribed for the trial of their faith, and proof of their 
obedience. For, O the power of faith ! had their walls 
threatened the clouds, and been harder than acla- 
Uiant, firmer than brass, down must thev tumble o* 

* Fsa) ex'v 5. 



f he HISTORY of JOSHUA. If 

tiie evening of the seventh day. Thus are the strong- 
holds of sin, and every high thing that exalts itself 
against the New Testament Joshua, cast down by the 
mighty weapons of the Christian warfare, which are 
not carnal. The feeble voice of the gospel, when 
faithfully preached, though not with a silver sound, or 
with excellency of speech, shall be mighty^ through 
God, to triumph over all opposition : so it was in 
the days of the apostles ; so it has been in every dis- 
tant age ; and so it shall be, till the victory is com-« 
plete. Thus, Babylon, shall thy prou4 towers be 
levelled with the ground, though seemingly fearless 
of assault. For the day" of the Lord shall be on ev- 
ery high wall and on every one that is proud and 
lifted up.* Though the kings of the earth should 
give their strength to the beast, our Joshua shall 
prevail, by the foolishness of preaching, and the 
sound of the gospel-trumpet ; and at the appointed 
time the strong-lunged angel shall cry, Babylon the 
great is fallen, is fallen.t 

The saving of Rahab and her household is the 
next remarkable occurrence. Who would have ex- 
pected to find, in this city of destruction, even a 
strong believer, whose faith should be celebrated by 
one apostle , and her works by another ? and who 
should have also the honor to make one of that il- 
lustrious line, from whence the Messiah should a- 
rise ? But so it was. Though once a notorious sin- 
ner, and called Rahab the harlot, to this day ; yet 

* Is. ii. 12. f Rev. xiv. 8. 

G2 



76 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

she was a believer of the promise that God made to 
Israel, and proved, by her works, that her faith was 
genuine : for protecting the messengers of Joshua 
at the hazard of her life, she preferred the interests 
of the church of God to those of her country, which 
^he knew very well was impossible to be saved.— * 
Though we can by no means justify the dissimula- 
tion by which she saved the spies from the purse- 
vants of the king of Jericho ; yet, as God has for- 
given her for being once a harlot and a liar, so must 
we also forgive those blameable parts of her con" 
duct of which she has long since truly repented. — i 
Well does Joshua answer his name, in saving not 
the race of Israel only, but Rahab, though a cursed 
Canaanite, with all her household, though sinners 
of the Gentiles. Was it not a dark prelude of Je- 
sus Christ, our better Joshua, his saving the Gen- 
tile world from the wrath to come, as well as the 
preserved of Jacob ? Might it not portend, that 
publicans and harlots, and such no, orious sinners, 
should be received among the first into his heaven- 
ly kingdom ? and that the harlot Gentiles, who for* 
merly were serving divers lusts, and living in the 
most abominable idolatries, should be incorporated 
into the holy society of the church, and espoused a^ 
a chaste bride to Jesus Christ, as Rahab became a 
proselyte to the Jewish religion, and the wife of 
Naasson, an illustrious prince in the chief of their 
tribes i Perhaps the scarlet thread, which, at the di- 
rection of the spies, she hung forth of her window, 



The HISTORY of JOSHUA. Y7 

as a discriminating signal, by which all under her 
roof wire exempted from the dismal desolation; 
perhi^s, I say, it might be an intimation, though a 
v. iv ooscure one, that the shedding of Christ's red 
blood should prove the means of salvation to the 
Gentile world, and of making peace betwixt the 
Jews and them, who were formerly at variance, and 
harboured mutual hatred. Red was the colour of 
salvation to Israel in Egypt, when the sprinkling 
their doors with blood protected them from the de- 
stroying angel's sword ; and red is the colour of 
salvation to Rahab in Canaan, when the hanging a 
scarlet thread over her windows was her security 
from the destroying sword of Israel. Happy they 
who have the blood of Christ upon them, not for 
destruction, (as the Jews who murdered him, and 
imprecated this dreadful vengeance on themselves, 
and their posterity), but for salvation, (as all them 
who believe). Rahab's safety was confirmed by tha 
oath of men; but theirs by the oath of God, for 
whom it is impossible to lie. Destruction approach- 
es not these doors ; death enters not these windows 
where the blood of Christ is found. 

In vain did the kings of Canaan conspire to op- 
pose the victorious Joshua after the destruction of 
Jericho ; for at last he bids his captains set their 
feet upon the necks of the hostile princes, in token 
of full conquest. Nor was it strange he should be 
able to do this , when the very heavens befriended 

him, by casting down prodigious hailstones tQ kiil 

G3 



n TYPICAL PERSONS. 

his flying enemies ; and their most glorious lurnU 
naries, the sun and moon, were obedient to his 
voice, and stood still in their habitation, till the ven- 
geance written was executed upon the devoted na- 
tions. Such is that complete victory over all the 
enemies of God and his people, which he shall gain 
who goes forth conquering, and to conquer. It i& 
the distinguished honour of all his faithful soldiers 
to tread upon the devil, the world, and the lusts of 
the flesh. These are the dragons and the lions 
which they trample under their feet ; these are the 
kings they bind with chains ; these are the nations 
they shall dash in shivers as a potter's vessel with a 
rod of iron. And a time is coming, when the up- 
right shall have dominion over the wicked ; for so 
is his will, whom not only the sun and moon, but all 
the numerous hosts of heaven and earth obey. 

At last the favoured nation of the Jews are 
brought into their projmlsed rest, under the conduct 
of their valiant general. He puts them in quiet 
possession of that happy country which he had be- 
fore spied out for them. This Moses could not dc. 
So Jesus Christ hath introduced us, not into a tem- 
poral rest, like thine, O Joshua, but into a spiritual 
and eternal rest, an incorruptible and undefiled in* 
heritance, which the law could not do, having be* 
come weak through the flesh. 

10. THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 

LET us now glance at the prodigious feats of 
S$;n*on. that eighty and renowned judge of 



The HISTORY of SAMSON. 79 

Israel, whose birth, life, and death, were all so ex- 
traordinary, that, as some suppose, the fabulous 
tales of Hercules, so famous in Greece, are but this 
true history metamorphosed, and dashed with fic- 
tion. It may indeed seem odd to insert a person, 
whose vices were so glaring and unmanly, in the 
catalogue of the illustrious types of Jesus Christ \ 
for the hints of his religious and saintly disposition 
in the history of the Judges, are so dubious and 
sparing, that one would be tempted to suspect wheth- 
er he was a saint at all. But the honourable char* 
aeter he was vested with by God, and the signal de- 
liverances of his people he was enabled to atchieve^ 
afford us more than a presumption, that he was not 
wholly a stranger to the fear of the Lord. Above 
all, his reputation as a believer, is firmly established 
by a New Testament writer, who ranks him among 
the eminent worthies, who lived and died in faith \ 
who by faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righte- 
ousness, obtained promises, stopt the mouths of lions, 
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of 
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, wax- 
ed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of 
the aliens.* Be it so, that, on account of the crim- 
inal weakness of his mind, which wrought his own 
destruction, he 4s rather a figure of the sinner - r yet 
if we consider the prodigious strength of his body, 
which wrought salvation in Israel, he is justly es- 
teemed a figure of the Saviour* 
* Heb. si. 33. 34. 



SO TYPICAL PERSONS. 

The circumstances of his birth so mu:h resenu 
ble those of Jesus Ch ; .t's, hat we can scarcely 
pass them over n s : -l^n: . Ek*h Jesus Chrit and 
he were conceive.! ir k -ordinary manner be- 

side the course ofaatur , iieir b r h, and future 
importance, were declared, fey a nuss^ngcr from the 
invisible worl I o their female parents, that, h^f 
should be Nazar 't:s un.c Go !, and s* v ours o Is- 
rael. Only whereas Samson's mo:her was bu; a 
barren spouse, vh^ mother of Jesus wa^ an unspo1> 
ted virgin* The angel ih r» pe-r^a o Mano- 
ah's wife refused to te'l h s name when importun- 
ed ; but the angel who appeared -o e wife of 
Joseph, declared who he was without being asked, 
Samson was but a legal N z ;r te from the womb, 
and many a time he seems *o have acted a part very 
unworthy of such a sacred name ; but Jesus Christ 
was that in substance, which Samson, and other 
Nazarites, were only in shadow ; holy, harmless, 
undefiled, separated from sinners ;* purer t ^n 
snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy in body than 
rubies, his polishing was of sapphire. t He was? 
during his whole life, dedicated to the service of 
God, abstracted from the affairs of the world, deni- 
ed to the gratifications of sense, and pure from rH 
unclcanness. And, lastly, that the resemblance be- 
twixt him, and that religious order, might be more 
complete, whereas, at the expiring of their vow, 
the) were obliged, by the divine law, to offer as ma- 
• H*b. vii. a6. t Lam. iv. ;• 



The HISTORY of SAMSON. §* 

ny sacrifices as though they had been lepers, even 
though they had fully complied with all their re- 
strictions $— so Jesus Christ, that he might fully 
pay his vow to' the mighty God of Jacob, offered 
himself a sacrifice, though he had no sin of his own 
io be expiated. And perhaps it is more than a con- 
jecture, that his education in the village of Naza«* 
reth. which occasioned his being called a Nazarene, 
in the common stile of his country, was intended, 
in the secret providence of God, to be an in.imation 
to ail, that he was the true Nazarite, in whom the 
ancient laws of Nazariteship were to receive their 
end : and ;hus, according to a holy evangelist, it 
was fulfilled that is written in the prophets, He 
shall be called a Nazarine.* 

We shall now come to take no* ice of some of the 
most singular actions of ihis illustrious Danite, 
which are as uncommon as his extraordinary bir k 
presaged. Whether his marriage with a Philistine 
was any dark figure of the calling of the Gentiles, 
I will not determine. But his encounter whh the 
young lion that roared against him, when he had no 
defensive weapon in his hand 5 in which he w^as vic- 
torious, (a prelude of his future victories), seenia 
not unlike that first prelusive battle our Redeemer. 
had wi h the roaring lion oi* hell, who met him .in 
the wilderness, and roared against him by three 
most hideous tempt a ions but was totally routed 
and overcome by the Lion of the tribe of Judah* 
• Matt. ii. 23, 



13 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

Mail Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, 
Queller of Satan, on thy gloiious work 
Now enter, and begin to save mankind,, 

HILTON. 

And whereas the dead carcase of the lion is record- 
cd to have become a hive of bees, who, by some 
strange instinct, chose here to make their honey; 
this may at least put us in mind, what are the hap- 
py effects of the conquests of our Redeemer. The 
law roared against him by its threatenings ; but he 
Overcame it by his complete satisfaction. Deaih 
roared against him, and bought to swallow him ; 
but O death ! he was thy plague. Be not afraid 
taf the condemning law, ye that believe in the Son of 
God ; tremble not at the thoughts of death ! These 
roaring lions are quelled by your almighty Redeem- 
er, who has seen the travel of his soul, and is 
satisfied, as Samson did eat of the honey which he 
found in the carcase ; and who also invites his peo« 
pie to partake with him in his repast, as it is said, Eat 
ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself 
in fatness.*— To have beheld a flight of eagles a- 
iighted on the carrion, would been no uncommon 
occurrence * for where the carcase is, there will the 
eagles be gathered tcgether.t But for bees to take 
up their quarters in a dead carcase, and there to de- 
posite their delicious stores, is so unlike the natural 
dispo ition of these clean and prudent insects, as to 
afford the matter of that famous riddle which this 
great champion propounded to his friends, on occa* 
• Is. lv. a. | Matt. xxlv. a8. 



The HISTORY of SAMSON, m 

aion of this ex'raordinary adventure, and of which 
they were not able o guess \he meaning, till, accord- 
ing to the proverb then used, they ploughed with his 
heifer. Tuai swarms of Christians should be associ- 
ated togethr, and live by the deah of Jesus Christy 
the Lion of the tribe uf Judah, who e flesh is meat 
indeed ; >ha g^ry should come tou: by his dishonour, 
riches by h^ pover y, strength by his weakness p , life 
by his death ; that .hem st unlikely means should 
bringabout i he most glorious and beneficial ends; that 
pur mo. t terrible enemies- should be meat for us; that 
what promises nothing but s,ench and putrefaction, 
should yield sweet comfort h refreshment \ these are 
the things, wh:ch,by the gospel, are declared unto us, 
Here, Samson, thy riddle unfolds itself, whi^h none 
can unders'.and aright who plough net witn God's 
heifer ; that is, the Spirit of God, who searcheth 
all things, and reveals what the natural man receive 
eth not, nor knows, 

It was s*. range the Israelites did not join together, 
under such a redoubted champion, to shake oft the 
shameful yoke of the Philistines. But they were 
so lost to all sen.-e of shame and gratitude, as to 
treat the deliverer of their country like the be raver 
of it, They bind (by his own consent) their judg3 
and avenger, and traitorously deliver him to their 
tyrants and oppressors, But their joy was short in 
their prisoner, For bursting their bands, and cast- 
ing away their cords, with a very contemptible 
weapon, he deals death and desolation at every blow, 



34 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

and makes a most terrible carnage. For the Spirit 
of the Lord came upon him, and strung his arm 
with more than mortil v'-gour ; and the promise 
wa^ li erallv fulfilled, That one should chase a thou- 
sand.,* Even rt>, the avenger of the human race, 
the Lord Jesus Christ, was basely delivered up by 
his own countrymen, who had received many fa- 
vours from him, into the hands of the Gentiles. — 
But without his own consent, Judas, with all his 
rout, could iiot have bound tiiin; O Saviour of the 
World ! thy love to men, and ( bedience to God, 
were ihe invisible but mighty cords that held thee 
fast. These, and not the nails that transfixed *hy 
hands and feet, hindered thee to save (hyself, and 
come down from the cross. But the triumphing 
of the wicked was shcrt ; for when they vainly im- 
agined f .hey had him sure and sa r e, fastened to a 
zc ss, and iaid in the grave, he starts up a dread- 
ful adversary, the ccrds of death are not able to 
hold him ; put of weakness he is made strong ; and 
though all nations crmpassed him, yct'n '.he name 
of the L-.rd he did destroy tHem. And how con- 
temptible was the instrument he used in th ; s migh- 
ty work ! As when Samson, who wanted hot sp 
and swords, was directed to use no otheT weapon 
but the jaw-bone of an ass ; so Jesus Christ, who 
could have commanded the secular arm tospread the 
conquests of his gospel, or have ord I strcr 
it of the months of eloquent orators, and pr 

Josh yxi'u. j*\ 



The HISTORY of SAMSON 85 

philosophers ; yet chose contemptible fishermen, 
and perfected praise out of the mouths of babes and 
sucklings. 

I might mention, in the next place, his marvel- 
lous escape from Gaza^ where he was watched all 
night by his enemies; but he eluded their vigilance, 
and unhinging their massy gates, he took away up- 
on his shoulders part of the battlements of that 
strong city, for they were not the Lord's, and ear- 
ned them to the top of a hill, the enemies having 
no power either to resist or to pursue. An emblem 
of our mighty Saviour sleeping in the chamber of 
ihe grave, where he was watched by the jealous 
scribes and Pharisees, who vainly imagined to hin- 
der his resurrection. But when they least expected > 
he arose ; he burst the gates of death ; and leading 
captivity captive, Jie ascended on high. 

But the manner in which he died is perhaps what 
most entitles him to be the type of Jesus Christ, 
who, like Samson, was betrayed, and sold by a 
pretended friend, bound, blindfolded, insulted, and 
made his grave with the wicked. Like Samson, 
he willingly resigned his breath ; but by his death, 
death was abolished, principalities and powers were 
swelled, and, O ye enemies of salvation, destructions 
have anerpetual end. Thy death, O Jesus, is ouf 
life^ and by bhy cross we triumph over these wicked 
lustsfhat have short* the locks of our strength ; have 
is with fetters of iron ; have put out fcbe eyes 
of our mind, and made us dweli in darkness, and 

H 



86 TYPICAL PERSONS, 

toil at the abhorred drudgery of the devil. Happj? 
they who are avenged of these cruel enemies, 
though like thee, O Samson, they should die with 
them. 

11. THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 

THERE is scarcely a more amiable and con< 
summate character to be found in the coni* 
pass of sacred history than David's, notwithstand- 
ing some blemishes with which it is tarnished.—* 
What mouth is not opened in the praises of this 
good king, the first of the kind that swayed the Jew* 
ish sceptre, who is honoured to be the penman of 
these devout and rapturous compositions, stiled the 
Psalms, where the graces of poetry strive with the 
beauties of holiness, and which are justly esteemed 
the treasure of the world, and a complete system of 
revelation in miniature ? When we consider that 
fervant devotion, that submission to the divine will, 
that delight in God's law, and zeal for his worship, 
that spirit of forgiveness in the case of personal in^ 
juries, and the other lovely graces that breathe 
through all his writings and history, we must cer- 
tainly allow him to have been a saint of the first 
magnitude. But it is chiefly to be observed, to thq 
honour of this illustrious king, so much talked of iu 
the Bible, that he was at once a prophet, a progeni- 
?:o/, and a figure of the Messiah. The last particu* 
is so evident from innumerable places, where 



The HISTORY of DAVID 8^ 

jbavid and his Lord exchange not only words and 
speeches, but also names, that taking for granted 
this obvious truth, we shall briefly hint at the most 
remarkable parallels betwixt them; 

Perhaps his very name David, which signifies 
beloved, may intimate, that Christ his antitype 
should be the beloved of God and of men. But it is 
certain the place of his birth was always held to be 
the same where Christ should be born* Might not 
this be one reason why David (who was a prophet, 
and knew that himself was a type of Christ, and that 
he should be born in the same village} discovered 
such a fondness for Bethlehem, as to be seized with 
ardent longing, even for a draught of water from its 
well ? Much was this little village aggrandized, by 
giving birth to king David, but more by giving birth 
to Jesus Christ :- for so the prophet sings ; K * But 
thou Betmehem-Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall 
he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler of Israel, 
whose goings forth have been of old from ever- 
lasting." 

From the place of his birth, let us come to the 
qualifications of his person, both in body and mind* 
The ruddiness of his complexion is very particular- 
ly noticed by the sacred historian. And besides 
the comeliness of his person, his prudence and val- 
our recommended him at court, when he had no 
higher title than the son of Jesse the Eethlehemite.. 

But above all. his character is crowned by that most 

H 2 



88 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

ample commendation God was pleased to give him 
when he removed Saul, I have found a man after 
mine ofrn heart, that shall fulfil all my will.* And 
. these illustrious endowments be found 
in their highest perfection but in the person of the 
Son of David, who is white and ruddy, the chief e3t 
among ten thousands, fairer than the children . of 
men, the mighty God, the prudent servant of 'the 
Lord ; and, lastly, who came to do thy will, O 
God, thy law was in the midst of his heart ?t 

Let us next compare their sufferings, and we shall 
find a surprising resemblance. We might, first) 
take notice of his lurking in obscurity, for a long 
time in his father's house, where he tended the 
flocks of sheep, before he was a shepherd of men.— 
But though the like obscurity was the fate of Jesus 
Christ for along track of years, when he dwelt in 
his father's house ; perhaps it is not so proper to 
mention this particular under the head of David's 
afflictions ; for we can scarce doubt but it was the 
most happy period of his whole life, when he follow- 
ed the ewes with young. From the time he began 
to attract the observation of the world, what was the 
greatest part of his life but a continual war? His 
own brother made him a very surly speech, to deter 
him from his first public adventure in encountering 
Goiiah, insinuating, that the sole motive he had in 
visiting the camp at that juncture, was pride and 
ghtiness of heart. Which puts us in mind of 

• Acts xiH. 22, \?s. *L 8, 



The HISTORY of DAVID. m 

the coarse reception our gracious Redeemer met 
with from his brethren according to the fleshy who 
received him not, but loaded him with the most 
odious imputation, and virulent reproaches, and al- 
ways put the worst constructions upon his words and 
actions. We are also told, that some of his nearest 

relations believed not on him. And as to the 

persecutions he endured under the tyrant-reign of 
Saul, (which were the occasion of many sweet 
psalms, transmitted even to our times] j the likeness 
betwixt them and those of Jesus Christ, under ths 
tyrant-reign of Herod, is greater than one would 
think at first view. David's life is sought after by 
his own king : and what was the quarrel ? It was 
the fear that David would succeed to the crown, as 
was revealed to the prophet Samuel r so Jesus 
Christ is persecuted by Herod king of Judea, from 
a foolish supposition, that he could elude the highde- 
crees of Heaven, and falsify the scriptures of the pro- 
phets. In David's quarrel the innocent priests in 
Nob were cruelly butchered ; and the innocent 

babes in Bethlehem in the cause of Jesus Christ. 

Cursed be their anger, for it was cruel.* But both 
the bloody tyrants shared the same success : for as 
all attempts to seize the person of David were vain; 
so Herod's bloody plot against the life of Christ 
proved abortive. But when we are remembering 
David, and all his afflictions, we must not forget that 
very singular one which befel hini^ when he was 

Geu, x3ix, 7* 

HS 



90 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

compelled, by an unnatural son, and rebellious sub« 
jects, to fly from his royal city; and, with his sor- 
rowful friends, passed over the brook Kidron in a 
melancholy plight. It was over this same brook 
the Son and Lord of David passed to that fatal gar- 
den where he was apprehended, in company with 
his sorrowful apostles. And what was no small 
addition to David's distress, his own familiar friend, 
in whom he confided, and servant that ate of his 
| laved the traitor, and lift up his heel against 
him : a circumstance which was not wanting in the 
case of Jesus Christ, betrayed by one or his apostles. 
Who knows not tha the same scriptures are applied 
to Judas in the New Testament, that are in the Old 
spoken of Ahithophel ? Let his habitation be deso- 
late, and let another take his olhce.* It is true, the 
Son of David knew from the beginning who should 
betray him, which David knew not : but in other 
respects the parallel is very near ; for both these 
cursed traitors were alike in their former character 
and trust, alike in their execrable villainy, and alike 
in their tragical end. 

Having enumerated some of David's typical af- 
flictions, let us come to his renowned atchievements 
both in war and peace, wherein alsohe seems to have 
been designed an emblem of the same glorious per- 
son. His victory over that proud insulting Philis- 
tine who defied the armies of the livingGod,is.non~ 

the least exploits for which he stands recorded in 

• Ps.cix 8 IctsL 20. 



The HISTORY of DAVID, « 

the rolls of fame. He heard his blasphemous rail- 
ing ; he saw the unmanly terror of the Israelites^ 
who all declined the single combat of this vain boast- 
er ; he was informed of the great rewards the vie 
tor should receive from the king ; and not in the 
least intimidated by his fierce appearance, he re- 
solves to accept the challenge in vhe name of the in- 
sulted God of Israel. Armed with no weapons but 
his staff and sling, he lays the vaunting warrior pros- 
trate in death ; adding withal this indignity to his 
huge corpse, of severing his head from his body 
with his own sword. — Let the vaunting Goliah be 
an emblem of the devil, who has the power of death. 
A great reward is proposed by the King of Heav- 
en to the person who shall encounter and overcome 
this formidable enemy. No man, no angel, dared 
the arduous enterprise. But Jesus Christ descend, 
ing to visit his brethren, and see our camp, moved 
with a becoming zeal for the glory of God, and the 
salvation of the human race, and for the joy that was 
set before him, prepares himself for the mortal com- 
bat. His brethren indeed dispised him, and used 
him rudely, but he was not detered from his merci- 
ful design. He borrowed no armour from us, for 
he only partook of our infirm fleshy nature : but by 
his own strength and wisdom he obtained the vic- 
tory with the staff of his cross ; a most unlikely 
weapon I for God was his shield and glory, and the 
lifter up of his head. " By death," which was like 
the devil's sword, " he destroyed him that had the 



H TYPICAL PERSONS. 

power of death :"* and the saying of the prophet h 
fulfilled, I will save them by the Lord their God, 
and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by 
battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. t We 
might also observe, how his taking the strong-hold 
of Zion from the Jebusites might bean emblem of 
Christ's conquering the Gentile church, His desh> 
ing to find a place for the God of Jacob to rest in? 
may be considered in the same light. This, O Sav- 
iour! was thy gracious design in visiting our regions 
of mortality, to find a place of rest among the sinful 
race of men, for that God, whose throne is the high- 
est Heaven, and his footstool the earth; — to find 
not a shadowy rest upon an earthly mountain, or in 
a material structure, but a real, a glorious, an ever- 
lasting rest in the temple of thy body the church, 
that God the Lord might dwell forever amongthem* 

Great was the glory to which the king of Israel 
was raised from small beginnings ; and the prudence 
of his administration, when he was lifted out of the 
dust, proved him not to have been unworthy of such 
high dinity. It is true, we must allow him to have 
committed no small errors in some particular acts of 
government; but as to the main of his conduct, he 
received this honourable testimony, He fed them 
according to the integrity of his heart, and guided 
them by the skillfulness of his hands. J Even so the 
humble Saviour, who mi g!-it truly say, Mine be 
is not haughty, O Lord, neiiher are min ^fty 7 § 

• Hcb. ii. 14* t tf os. i. 7. { t ;aU Ixaviii. 7*. § Ps, exxxi. u 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 93 

|ras exalted from his state of low debasement to the 
highest pinnacle ry, to become not oniv the 

head of his ch but cf the Heathen ; and the 

people who know him not, are mads to serve his 
will. But in this he far excels the type, that the 
annals of his reign are not stained wl:h any the 
smallest blots, and of the increase of his govern- 
ment and peace there shall be no end. # 

We shall bur me In the last place, the cove- 

nant of ray i God was pleased te 

David and hi Ifor ever; an em':. em of chat 

covenant v. iod hath made with Christ, 

resen ative of his chosen people* This cover 
O David, was thy consolation in all m'lv-trials, 

and under me melancholy apprehensions of thy suc- 
cessor's apostaey. G may it also be our consolation ! 
ice ail the children of Zion bejoyiul in their king! 

12. THE HISTORY OF SOL03IOI 

nPHE next illustrious personage we shall mention 
-*- is Solomon the son of David ; the wise, wealthy, 
magnificent, and peaceful monarch of Jerusalem, 
who, like h er, was honoured to be the penman 

of a very consderable and useful part of the inspired 
writings, by which he may be justly teckonedto 
have made abundant compensation o the church of 
God, for the great offence he was left to give to all 
good m-en, by the sadapestacy of his advanced years, 
That he was a figure of the Messiah, seems evident 
* Isa, ix. 7» 



U TYPICAL PERSONS. 

from what God said concerning him by the prophet 
Nathan, which is applied by a New Testament writer 
to Jesus Christ, — I will be to him a Father, and he 
shall be to me a Son;* ■ ■ ■ ■■from what David said in 
the seventy-second psalm ; — —and from the most 
excellent Song of Songs composed by himslf, not 
concerning himself, but Jesus Christ, the glorious 
Bridegroom of the church, under a borrowed name. 
Nor is it difficult to find out several things in Solo- 
mon's character and history, that greatly resemble 
the character and history of a far greater person 
than he. 

We shall first take notice of that wisdom and sa- 
gacity for which he was so much celebrated. It 
pleased God to confer upon this beloved king a very 
uncommon measure of intellectual endowments, to 
fit him for discharging the high office to which he 
was raised. He asked wisdom from God as the 
best and most perfect gift: nor did he ask in vain, 
for God gave him a wise and understanding heart, as 
never monarch had before. His wisdom far excell- 
ed that of the most renowned sages of his time, 
The world of nature was all his own. He spake of 
plants and animals, from the triumphant ceder down 
to the humble moss ; and from the soaring eagle to the 
creeping iaseot. As a scholar no question was too 
hard for him to resolve ; and as a judgje, no case too 
intricate to decide. The wisdom of his proverbial 
I ags, and the subliinity of Ipus poetical compos ir 

♦ Hcb. i. 5. 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON, 9f 

tions, may be most certainly inferred from those 
specimens which have reached our times. He wa§ 
not only revered as the oracle of his country, but 
even princes, neigbouring and remote, courted his 
friendship, and were ambitious of his acquaintance. 
His very servants that ministered unto him, were 
pronounced happy by a great queen, who, fired with 
the love of wisdom, undertook a long and expensive 
journey, leaving for a time the delights of her court, 
and the cares of state, to pay him a visit, of whom 
she had heard so much, though still, as she after- 
wards acknowledged, the half had not been told her t 
therefore shall she rise up in judgment against the 
men in every generation, who refuse to hear the 
wisdom, and receive the insruction of a greaterthan 
Solomon, who is the wisdom of God itself, and 
in whom are hid treasures, all treasures of wisdom 
and knowledge ; who, instead of waiting till we 
come to seek him, has come from Heaven to us, and 
cries in the chief places of concourse^ in the openings 
of the gates, in the city he uttereth his words, How 
long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, ancj. 
fools hate knowledge ? turn you at my reproof.* — ? 
What was thy wisdom, Solomon, to his on whom, 
as the prophet testifies, the Spirit of the Lord did 
rest, the Spirit of wisdom, counsel, and Jmowisclge* 
to make him of quick understanding in the fear of 
the Lord I Admire we the vast extent of Solomon's 
erudition ? There is no creature that is not manife&t 

f ?rov. i. ZZ> 



|X> TYPICAL PERSONS. 

in the sight of Jesus Christ, from the greatest uat© 
the least. It is recorded oi him, that with the ut- 
most facility he answered the hard questions that 
were put io him. Neither can the wisdom of Jesus 
Cnrist be nonplussed to answer the most puzzlii g 
query, when that most difficult of any has been re- 
solved by him, Vv herewith si all a guihy sinner come 
before the Lord ? and how shall he bow himself be- 
fore the high God ? Was Solomon an accute pen Q 
etrating judge, judging i is people with righteous- 
ness, and his poor with judgment ? Of Christ it was 
declared, He shall not judge after the seeing of his 
eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of his ears ; but 
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and re- 
prove with equity for the meek of the earth. t He 
discerns at first view a Nathaniel and a Judas, 
and will separate the righteous and the wicked. — . 
And what are the wise speeches of So'omon to 
those of Jesus Christ, by whose Spirit the W; <.le 
scriptures were dictated, and Solomon himself in- 
spired i 

To the wisdom-, let us subjoin the wealth of Solo- 
m..n, who made even silver in Jerusalem as the 
stones of the street. But how shall tl is agree to our 
Lord Jest's, wh « was himself a p or man, without 
a fixed dwelling-place, and whose f li wers most 
generally are the pocr am ng men \ 1 rue W«< 
decd, he neither p< sscssrd tie riches of the world 
himself, nor can his subjects boast, that they have 
9 Micati vi. 6. t Is. si* 3. 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 97 

emassed huge quantities of white and yellow earth, 
called silver and gold : yet are thy riches, Lord Je- 
sus, unsearchable ; eternity itself too short to count 
them. The arithmetic of angels would not be able 
to cast the mighty sum. These riches hast thou 
purchased by thy poverty ; and what is said of mo- 
ney we still more truly affirm of thy inexaustable 
fullness, It answers all things.* If Solomon made 
silver as the stones ; Jesus Christ renders the most 
admired vanities of the world but loss and dung.— 
O the immense value of the riches of Christ ! of 
whom it is said in the prophet, For brass I will bring 
gold, for iron silver, -for wood brass, and for stones 
kon.t Even such amazing wealth is scarcely fit to 
be an emblem of the true riches ; for a New Tes- 
tament writer rises in the description, talks of a city 
whose inhabitants are kings, whose walls are jasper, 
whose gates are pearls, whose streets are paved with 
gold. Here that precious metal on which the men 
of the world set their hearts, is trodden with the feet* 
Hew diminutive is the splendour of earthly courts I 
bow despicable is a Solomcci, though seated on 

ry throne, in comparison of such stupenduous 
magnificence ; which never indeed existed in the 
world of nature, but has a true, though spiritual ex- 
istence in the kingdom of Jesus Christ I To con- 
clude then, as the wisdom of Solomon was but foi> 
tp the wisdom of Jesus Christ ; so, in comparison 
pf his riches, his wealth was poverty. 

* EccL x. 19, f Is. Jx. 17. 

I 



99 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

From his wisdom and wealth, let us come to the 
extent of his dominion, which we are told was very- 
wide. And if, in the multitude of people, is the 
lung's honour, the king Messiah equals, nay, far ex- 
cels the king of Israel. What was it to reign over 
all kingdoms from the Euphrates to the midland sea, 
and to the corner of Egypt, to his extensive sway 
whose kingdom rules over all ? 

But what was a most singular r ^commendation of 
Solomon's happy reign, for the most part it was not 
disturbed, either with civil jars or foreign war ; for, 
as his name imported, he was a man of rest, and, 
except toward the latter end of his days, his subjects 
enjoyed the most profound tranquility. This was 
designed to be a faint representation of the govern- 
ment of the Prince of peace ; whose gospel is a doc- 
trine, which, if sincerely believed, effectually recon- 
ciles men to Gcd, and to one another. Therefore 
the ancient prophets, speaking of these peaceful 
times when Messiah should reign, have collected 
the most striking and amiable images of peace that 
1 be conceived. They talk of nations beat- 
Js into ploughshares, and their spears 
i pruninghooks ; — that arts of death and mi. 

all no more be learned as a useful sci- 

E ; — th most ravenous beasts shall be cs 

as tV h which mankind are most farnil- 

; that t' i ;venomed serpent shall cease to 

; — that bows and swords, and s 

uments of death, shall cease out of £he 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 99 

earth, and the odious dm of battle shall be heard no 
more. If now these charming prophecies have not 
received their fall accomplishment, our wars; and 
.lightings, O Prince cf peace I are not the native 
result of thy gospel, but they come from the lusfcs 
that war in our members*, To this original mav 
thev all be traced, O shame to men, who are catted 
by the Christian name, to act a part so unlike their 
sacred profession, by waging horrid wars with one 
another, and rejoicing in mutual slaughter to make 
their swords drunk with blood ! Nevertheless, we, 
according to his promise, expect more happy times, 
when the import of these predictions shall be more 
fully known, and of the increase of his government 
and peace there shall be no end. For here indeed. 
the order is inverted in Solomon and his antitype. 
Whereas me beginning of Solomon's administra- 
tion was the most pe&ceabl. ihe latter ml 
of the Messiah's government shall be the cpqst se- 
rene and happy period. 

To pass trver the foreign match of the Israelhish 
^monarch, which some have supposed a prelude of 
calling the Gentile church to the fellowship of Jesus 
Christ : we shall only take notice of the maomiS- 
cc nee of Solomon's building, He was pitched upon 
by the great God to build a house for his name ; 
and, under his direction, that sacred structure was 
reared at an immense charge. The workmen were 
foreigners, and many of the materials fetched from 

abroad. The stones being all prepared and fitted 

I 2 



100 TYPICAL PERSONS/ 

to each other before-hand, the noise of hammers wi*s 
not heard as the building advanced. Who knows 
not, that the ancient temple was a figure of the 
church which is his body ? Christ Jesus is the true 
Solomon, who builds this holy and beautiful house, 
not with dead, but with living stones, which are 
hewed by the law, and polished by the gospel ; and 
being thus fitly framed, they become a spiritual 
building, and grow into a holy temple in the Lord. 
Even sinners of the Gentiles are employed in this 
honourable work of building up the church ; a ad of 
them it may be said, Ye are God's building.* The 
doctrine of the apostles and prophets is the foun- 
dation, and Jesus Christ himself the chief corner- 
stone. 

13. THE HISTORY OF JONAH, 

THE comparison which our Lord was pleased to 
make of himself and the prophet Jonah, when 
an evil and adulterous generation sought after a 
sign from Heaven, forbids us to pass over in silence 
this shorty but strange history, which is doubtless 
one of these passages in the Old Testament to 
which the apostle refers, when he speaks of Christ's 
dying for cur sins, according to the scriptures, and 
being buried and rising again the third day, according 
to the scriptures : For as Jonas was three days and 
three nights in the whale's belly, so was the Son of 
man three days and three nights in the heart of the 
earth,t 

• I Cor. iii. 9. | P/tett. xii, 40. 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 101 

That we may have the fuller view of the resem- 
blance, let us briery recollect what weare told of the 
prophet in the book denominated from him. He is 
charged with a commission by the great God to de- 
nounce the vengeance of Heaven against the great and 
sinful city Ninevah, the metropolis of the mighty 
Assyrian empire. This is the first time we read of 
a prophet sen!; to reform a Gentile nation ; and 
doubdess was a prelude of his granting to the Gen- 
tiles, in future times , repentance unto life. It was 
God who commanded, and the prophet might to 
have been ail submission. But as Simon the son of 
Jonas long after disputed the command of Goi 
w)^2n he was sent far the first time to preach unto 
the Gentiles ; so Jonas, though a prophet of the 
Lord, who ought to have known better things, re- 
solves to play the fugitive, and, like Cain, to go out 
from the presence of the Lord, and be an exile from 
the church where God was worshipped, expecting to 
hear no more such troublesome orders from above, 
if he was Gnce on some foreign ground. He finds 
at j oppa a ship bound for Tarshish ; and thinking 
it a fair opportunity of carrying his scheme in ex- 
ecution, he enters himself a passenger. But, ye 
mariners, little did you think what a dangerous car- 
go you were taking on board ; for soon a tempest 
from the Lord embroils the ocean, and death sits 
threatening on everv wave. Every mariner be- 
takes himself to his prayers ; but Jonas, the 

Cause of the storm, is fast aslee :. He is season- 

13 



102 TYPICAL PERSONS; 

ably reproved by the master of the ship for his 
untimely security, and earnestly invited to join 
with them in calling also upon his God. A good 
advice to be sure : but, alas ! Jonas' heart condemn- 
ed him ; and though his God was the God of gods> 
he had little ground to hope that his prayer would 
be heared. Alas ! the guilty person was most un- 
fit to become a mediator for the rest of the crew.— • 
They rightly judged, that this preternatural storm 
was sent by angry Heaven to punish some notorious 
offender ; it was put into their hearts to find out, by 
lot, who he was. And, O surprising ! a professor 
of the true religion, and a prophet of the Lord, is 
singled out, in a crew of Heathen sailors, as the 
greatest sinner in the ship. His iniquity, which he 
thought to have kept a profound secret, is revealed 
in the most public manner ; and himself is obliged 
to confess his crime at large, that being a servant 
and prophet of the God who made Heaven and 
earth, and the sea, and the dry land, he had presum- 
ed to fly his presence, and disobey his positive com- 
mand. What shall they do? Their case seems des- 
perate. They ask his counsel, whom they now es- 
teemed a prophet. And, though at the expense of 
his life, he gives them the best direction could he 
thought of, — to cast himself forth into die sea. But 
though he was willing to die, the good-natured ma- 
riners were not willing to put him to death, till they 
bad exerted their utmost efforts to save themselves 
and him. Till at last they found their labour vain, 



THE HISTORY OF JO NAH. K*$3 

and with great reluctance they heaved over-board 
the guilty prophet, having first fervantly deprecated 
the guilt of his blood. And now the criminal they 
demanded, being surrendered to- the ocean, the tem- 
pest ceased to roar, and the billows laid aside their 
rage ; which had such a good effect upon the mari- 
ners, as, it is hoped, they proved sincere worship- 
pers of the true God, whom the winds and seaa 
obeyed. Who would expect to hear of Jonas any 
more ? But, strange to say ! a huge fish^ which the 
great Creator had commanded to be ready, receives 
the astonished prophet into its belly, where he lives 
three days and three nights, being supported by an 
almighty power. In this dreary mansion he finds 
time to meditate his past folly, anl cry unto the 
Lord in the language of sincere repentence. And 
after he had been sufficiently punished, the obedient 
fish returns him safe and sound on the dry land on 
the third day. The commission is renewed ; and 
wiser than before, he obeys ; goes to Ninevah, and 
preaches the doctrine of repentance \ threatening 
them with destruction in forty days. The men "of 
Ninevah repent ; and God also delays to strike the 
blow, and repented him of the evil. 

But what we intend chiefly to observe in the whole 
of this uncommon transaction ; A great er than Jo- 
nas is here pointed forth in his death, burial, resur- 
rection, and preaching to the Gentiles. 

The casting forth of Jonah into the sea, bears no 
small resemblance to the death of Christ, though- 



104 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

in some circumstances there is a considerable dif- 
ference : for the prophet Jonah was, for his own 
offence', delivered into the hands of mariners, who? 
without being guilty of murder, or thirst after his 
blood, did, with great reluctance, throw him over- 
board for their own preservation ; earnestly be- 
seeching that his blo-jd might not be laid unto their 
charge : but Jesus Christ being delivered, not for 
h ; s own, but our offences, unto the J^ws and Gen- 
tiles, wa ; taken, crucified, and slain with wicked 
bands ; while his. bloody murderers imprecated the 
direful vengeance of his innocent blood to be on 
them and their children. In other respects the case 
of Christ and Jonas was more alike. With his own 
consent the prophet is cast forth into the sea, after 
he had acknowledged that him elf was the man for 
whose cause the storm was sent, and whom the an- 
gry ocean demanded ; so Jesus Christ laid clown 
his life in the most voluntary manner, and boldly 
offered himself to the multitude who were sent to 
apprehend him, saying, I am the man whom ye 
seek ; and if ye seek me, let these go their way.* And 
as the sufferings of the prophet, who wcs plunged into 
the ocean, were attended with the most happy con- 
sequences, the stilling of the tempest, the preserva- 
tion of the lives of the sailors, and, as is hoped, the 
salvation of their souls; even so, when Jesus the 
of God expired on the cross, this event, the: 
;earan:e tragical, was productive of the fclost 

* Jjhn xviii. 8. 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. ioi 

blessedeffects. appeasing the tempest of God's angel', 
and saving from destruction the many for whom he 
gave his life a ransom, some of whom were the in- 
struments of his death. 

His lodging in the belly of the fish three days and 
nights, most certainly corresponds to the burial of 
our Redeemer in the grave, a part of three natural 
days. Never did that monster of the deep swallow 
such a morsel before. Nor did ever the grave en- 
close such a prisoner as Jesus was. Jonah, it is 
true, w r as not really dead, as Christ was when in the 
heart of the earth : but as that dismal place of dark- 
ness and corruption did much resemble the gloomy 
horrors of the loathsome grave, and is even stiled 
the belly of hell by the prophet himself ; perhaps the 
circumstance of Jonah's being alive in that living 
sepulchre, may put us in mind, that Jesus Christ 
was the living God, even when he was a dead man : 
for, O death! you was able indeed to rend his soul 
and body from one another, but neither soul nor bo- 
dy were dissevered from his divine person. And 
as Jonah received no harm in that horrible prison, 
(which was miraculous, ii we consider the strength" 
and heat in the stomach of so large a creature ) ; so 
Jesus Christ, when lying in the grave a pale and 
bloody corpse, saw no corruption. 

His casting forth on dry land on the third day af- 
ter his imprisonment, at the commandment of the 
Lord, answers to the resurrection of the Son of 
Godj who, at the commandment of his Father, was^ 



106 TYPICAL PERSONS. 

on the third day taken from prison and from judg- 
..t. When Jonah was saved from the fish, he 

also saved from the sea, revisiting at once the 
light of day and the dry land* When Christ was 

ued from the grave, he at the same time emerg- 
ed Erom under those billows of his Father's wrath 
which all passed over his head. It was not possible 
that Jonah should be deteaiiied in his ugly dungeon 

ri the Lord spake unto the inh'» Itwasnotpo^sihk 
that Christ should be held by the cords of death 
longer than the appointed time; and he may truly 
say, Thou hast brought up my life from corruption, 
O Lord my God.* Nevertheless in all things Je- 
sus must have the pre-eminence, and we must cer- 
tainly acknowledge that a greater than Jona sis here, t 
For whereas Jonas did not contribute in the least 
towards his own restoration, but >would have for ever 

inued in that melancholy prison, if he had not 
iraculously delivered from it ; our Redeemer 
on the other hand, as he had power to lay down his 
life, so he had power to take it again. The fish that 
swallowed Jonah might, for ought we know, receive 
as little harm by the prophet, as the prophet by th« 
fish; but, O grave, Jesus was thy destruction ! — » 
This hungry monster had gorged all the race of Ad< 
am, and never said, It is enough. $ Never any de- 
scended into the grave but it was able to digest 
them, till Jesus Christ died, and was buried. Thij 
grand devo ;.rer snatching the bait of his human bo* 
* Jonah ii. 6, f Matth. xii. 41. t P">v. *xx. I*» 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH, lot 

dy, was not aware of the hook of his divinity, and 
was forced to surrender her prey, having received 
such a deadly wound as never shall be healed. 

His preaching to the Ninevites, and saving them 
from imminent destruction, corresponds to Jesus 
Christ's preaching to the Gentiles by his apostles af* 
ter his resurrection from the dead. For the gracious 
design of preserving a guilty city, by turning them 
from their evil ways, was the prophet preserved in 
the monster's belly, and revisited the light on the 
third day. And for the same merciful purpose was 
Jesus raised from the dead, to save a guilty world 
irorn death, and to bless them, in turning every one 
of them from their iniquities— The belief those 
poor Gentiles gave to the threatening prophet, and 
their speedy repentance, wa it a prelude of that 

quick recep ;jc: til s cf Jesus Christ should 

meet with an tietn that were aliens from the 

commonw; f ael ? On this occasion the nro- 

phet acted a most anw part, and evinced a 

greater regard to his o^ai reputation, than the sal- 
vation of his hearers/ Sure never man suited his 
name worse ; for he is Uker a vulture than a dove. 
In this Jonah is not a type of Jesus Christ, who 
wept over Je. a, not because they repented, 

bu: because they repented not, and knew not the 
things that belonged to thek eternal peace, On 
this account, as well as those formerly mentioned, 
we may truly say, that a greater than Jonas is here r^ 

f Matth. xii» 41. . . - 



PART SECOND. 
TYPICAL THINGS. 

1. THE VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER, 

IN the multitude of dreams there wants riot divers 
vanities ; yet God is also in sleep ; and has con- 
veyed to the human mind notices of the last impor« 
tance in a dream, in a vision of the night when deep 
sleep falleth upon men, in s umberings upon the 
bed : so great is that power he has oyer us, both 
when we wake, and when we sleep. A pregnant in- 
stance of this we have in Jacob's night-vision, which 
God granted unto him in Bethel, to cheer his droop- 
ing heart, when he wandered all solitary, an exile 
fiom his father's house, to avoid the resentment of 
his brother. The sun was set, and the lonely travel- 
ler not being able to reach the next town, or on some 
other account, not known to us, resolves for one 
night to make the great God his landlord, the earth 
his bed, the stones his bolster, and the canopy of 
IJeaven his covering : for though he was delicately 
brought up by his fond mother, whose darling child 
he was, the tender usage he received had not so far 
unmanned him, as to betray undue softness and ef- 
feminacy • for upon this occason he could put up 
with very coarse accommodation. There is no 
bt his working mind would be fertile of melatfc. 



JACOB : s LADDER. (09 

v thoughts, as he lay thus in the open air, expos- 
ed to the chill damps of the night, and other dan- 
gers. Perhaps he might compare his dismal soli* 
tude with the happier lot of Esau, who was enjoy;, . r 
himself at home with his fame?. Who knows but 
he might begin to think, that the birthright and bles- 
sing he was so fond of obtaining, were not such great 
matters, as that he needed, for their safces, to have 
e::rosed himself to such hardships as he press 
felt, and might still expect to meet wich ? But if any 
such pensive thoughts disturbed his mind, they are 
soon chased away by the welcome approach pi sieep^ 
and the delightful vision he saw, together with 
friendly words he seemed to hear from the m 
of God himself : for he dreamed, and behold, a lad- 
der, the top of it reached to Heaven, and the foot of 
it was set upon the earth : and behold, the angels of 
God ascending and descending upon it. And be- 
hold, the Lord stood above it ;* not silent, but 
speaking words full of inexpressible consolation. — - 
The meaning of this emblem is the present subject 
of our thoughts : and perhaps it will be found on a 
nearer inspection, both to represent the mystery of 
providence, and of redemption. 

And, first, it was a vision of providence, and 
might be intende: ggesi to the patriarch's mind 

the following im and interesting truths- ■ 

That though God be m the heights above, he forgets 
not the affairs of mo, , as though the inter- 

• Gen. xxriii. 12. 13. 

K 



110 TYPICAL THINGS, 

posing clouds could veil them from his sight, or the 
huge distance of Heaven and earth could be an objec- 
tion against his superintending care. That though 

he is able, by himself alone, to govern the whole 
world, without the help of any created beings what- 
ever ; 5 _ et he is pleased to use the ministry of angels, 
which walk invisibly through the earth, and are con- 
tinually passing from Heaven to earth, to fulfil the 
pleasure of J E H O V A H, and from earth to Heav- 
en, to receive the commands of their eternal Sove- 
reign. That the regards of Providence, and the 

kindly offices of these spiritual creatures, are not 
confined to large societies, and the grand revolutions 
that happen in the world, but are even extended to 
the most private interests of every individual ; for 
none but Jacob "was present in the place where the 
ladder seemed to stand. And lastly, that the di- 
vine Providence exercises the most tender care 
when one's situation is most deplorable, destitute, 
and afflictive : for Jacob saw this vision when his 
head was lying hard, and his heart perhaps torment- 
ed with anxious care, when he was leaving a kind 
mother, a religious father, and the place where he 
born and educated ; uncertain of the reception 
be would meet with from his relations, or if he 
should ever see his dear parents any more. But as 
his affliction abounded, his consolation did much 
more abound. 

But perhaps we shall not think amiss, though we 
consider this emblematical ladder as a figure of the 






JACOB'S LADDER, 111 

Messiah himself, who is the blessed medium of 
communication between Heaven and earth ; — the 
way without whom no man comes to the Father ; — 
and the one Mediator between God and man. We 
can scarcely find a better explication of what Christ 
himself promised to Nathaniel, that Israelite indeed, 
Hereafter ye shall see the Heaven open, and the an*. 
gels of God ascending and descending upon the 
Son of man,* than by comparing it with this won* 
derful ladder, which he seems to hint was himself. 

And there is no contemptible analogy. For. first, 

whereas the foot of this ladder was on earth, and 
the top reached to Heaven ; this may both repre- 
sent what is the constitution of his person, and what 
are the blessed fruits of his mediatorial interposi- 
tion. As the ladder seemed to unite the Heaven 
and earth, the urost dista^r; extremes ; so the person 
of Immanuel -.mites the human nature and the di- 
vine, though the distance between them is infinitely 
great. And as the ladder opened a path from God 
to man, and from man to God, by reaching from 
Heaven to earth ; so the mediation of Jesus Christ 
has paved a way both for the approach cf the Deity 
to sinners, that he may dwell with them ; and lor 
the access of sinners unto God, that they may dwelt 
with him, and have their conversation in Heaven.-— 
O merciful and faithful High Priest, by thy incar- 
nation and satisfaction, a friendly correspondence is 
established between the Heaven and earth ; for thou 

* John i. 51. 

K2 



112 TYPICAL THINGS. 

hast laid thy hand upon us both, and art thyself ovx 
and living way to everlasting bliss, and the 
channel of conveyance to every spiritual blessing. 
— . — Whereas the angels of Cod were seen to as- 
cend ami descend upon the ladder : this may both 
signify, that in jcs-us Christ angels and men shall be 
united in one society ; and that by Jesus Christ they 
afe upheld from falling, and supported in their hap- 
py state. "Were they not the friends of men, why 
should trev be represented as running en our er« 
re they not confirmed and supported by 
Jesus our Mediator, why should spiritual beings, 
and winged messengers, be said to ascend and de- 
scend upon the Son of man, as on a ladder ? — — 
.re as the Lord stood above this ladder, and 
Ire m Its top spoke good and comfortable words to 
his servant Jacob, confirming the gracious covenant 
made with his fathers : is not this a clear intimation 
that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto 
himself, confirming his covenant, and uttering his 
gracious promise, as well pleased in his beloved 

Son ? Whereas Jacob alone was at the foot of 

the ladder, on whose top the Lord seemed to stand r 
might not this been considered by the adoring patri- 
arch, after he awoke, as a comfortable intimation^ 
that the glorious person who was signified by the 
\ision, should spring out of his loins, and be made 
of his seed according to the flesh, as the true pos- 
sessor of the birthright, and inheritor of the patri- 
archal blessing ? And, lastly, Whereas he saw 



THE BURNING BUSH. lis 

but one ladder, Jesus Christ is the alone Mediator, 
without whom the Father comes to no man, and no 
man comes to the Father. 

2. THE VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH, 

HHE last emblematical vision was seen in a 
-■- night dream by Jacob ; but that which we are 
now to consider was shewed unto Moses in the 
day-time, when he was broad awake. This future 
lawgiver was now, of a prince in Egypt, become a 
shepherd in M iclian • and as it was the purpose of 
God to send him to Pharaoh with a commission to 
demand the release of his oppressed people, he was 
pleased to grant him an illustrious manifestation or 
prodigy, to rouze his attention to what God should 
speak ; and to presage the success of his negotia- 
tion, and his own future dignity. At the time when 
he saw the heavenly vision, he was tending the fl 
of Jethro, as honest industry, and the moderate ex- 
cise of the thoughts about the lawful affairs of the 
world, is no obstruction to divine communication?. 
And the place in which he received it may also be 
worthy of our notice : he led his flock to the back 
side of the desart, and came to the mountain of 
God, even to Horeb ; for solitude and retirement 
from the harry of die world, has always been a 
friend to holy meditation, and intercourse with God. 
So Moses found on this occasion : for the Angel of 
the .Lord, not a created angel^ bat the uncreated An- 

K3 



ftk TYPICAL THINGS, 

gel of the covenant, who assumed to himself the 
high title of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Ja- 
cob ;* and, I AM THAT I AM;t and who 
required of Moses the tokens of the most profound 

respect, and religious subjection, To be short, 

the Messias himself appeared to him in a flame of„ 
fire out of the midst of a- bush ,* and, Behold, the 
bush burned with fire, yet was not consumed. £ The 
novelty of the sight induced him to satisfy his curi- , 
osity by a nearer approach ; but he was stopt short 
by the voice of God, which sufficiently explained the 
procfigy. Should it now be enquired, why the di- 
vine Majesty chose to appear in this manner ? Tho' 
v/e could assign no other reason but his sovereign 
pleasure, it were sufficient. But most generally, the 
appearances and manifestations of the Deity, in that 
age of types, were vouchsafed in such a manner, as 
to represent some hidden mystery, or important 
doctrine of the gospel. They who think that the 
flame of fire might signify the pure and spiritual 
nature of God, who appeared in it, of which no si- 
militude can be made, are certainly not mistaken. 
And it is ako not unfitly observed, that the burning 
bush may represent the state of Israel at that time, 
who were intangled in the thorny bush of adversity, 
mid encompassed widi the fire of affliction, in which 
they were like to be consumed. But let us draw 
near, and consider with Moses this great sight with 
dose attention : and perhaps it will b^ found a most 

* Esod. i : .i- 6. \ yer. 14- \ Vcr. 2. 



THE BURNING BUSH. lis 

significant emblem both of Jesus Christ who was in 
the bush, and of the church which is his body, in 
every age of the world. 

And, first, It seems very probable that this was a 
prelusive vision both of the future incarnation and 

sufferings of Jesus Christ That the bush may 

represent his human nature, is not unlikely,, especial-* 
ly as the prophet Esaias compares him to a tender 
plant, and root out of a dry ground, in which, to the 
eye of sense, no form, comeliness, or beauty, should 

be found. That the flame of fire may adumbrate 

his divine nature, will be no less evident, when we 
consider how often the fiery element is, in the scrip* 
ture«stile, an emblem of th^ Deity; yea, it is ex- 
pressly said, Our God is a consuming fire.* 
That the union of the -lame of are with the bush may 
denote the union of the Godhead and the manhood, 
is not at all absurd to suppose : for why should Mo- 
ses, in his dying benediction, be directed to speak of 
the good-will of him that dwelt in the bushrf May it 
not signify, that the continuance of theflameof fire in 
the bush for a short time, was atype of the fulness of 
the Godhead dwelling forever in the man Christ Je- 
sus? As the bush was in the fire, and the fire was in 
the bush ; yet still -hey were distinct things, though 
joined thus in one : even so the man Christ Jesus is 
in the God, and the God is in the man, though both 
diese natures, so mysteriously united, do still retain 
their own distinct properties. And if Moses was 

* Heb xli. 29, f Deut. xxxiii. 1. 



lit TYPICAL THINGS. 

struck with admiration, that the bush was not con* 
sumed, though in such near neighborhood with rud- 
dy flame ; much more may we be overwhelmed 
with amazement, to think how a portion of our frail 
humanity lives for ever in a state of the nearest ap^ 
proach unto, and most ineffable union with the glori- 
ous Godhead, in whose unveiled presence we mortals 
could not live, and even the angels cover their faces 
with their wings. — Here also may be discerned a 
shadow of those direful sufferings bv which the Son 
of God was to expiate our sin. For the wrath of 
God is every where in scripture compared to fire, 
the most fierce and dreadful of all the inanimate 
creatures, which, with severe impartiality, devours 
all combustible things. Who of all the human race 
could dwell with this devouring element? Far less 
could any abide with the everlasting burnings of the 
Almighty's indignation. But Jesus Christ, who 
dwelt in the bush, dwelt also with these fierce flames : 
and though he endured the wrath of God, which 
flamed most intensely against him, as he bore the 
sins of many, though he was compassed by this fire 
all the days of his humbled life; yet he was not 
consumed, because his Deity, like the angel in the 
bush, supported his humanity, and bade him be a 
glorious conqueror. 

From the sufferings of the head, let us descend to 
the sufferings of the body, who are predestinated to 
be conformed to his image. Let the bush be an em- 
blem of the church, to which it may be compared on 



THE BURNING BUSH. 11? 

account of its weak, obscure, and contemptible state, 
in the esteem of worldly men, who are taken with 
nothing; but what dazzles the eve of sense. For 
though there is a real glory, and a spiritual magnifi- 
cence, in this holy society, she cannot compete with 
earthly kingdoms in outward splendour, any more 
than a bush in the wilderness can vie with a cedar in 
Lebanon ; for besides the paucity of her true mem- 
bers, they are commonly to be found rather in smoaky 

iges than proud palaces; and sometimes tk:y 
have been found in prisons, dungeons, dens, and caves 

le earth* Let rhe fire in which the bush burned, 
the firy trials to which the church has been 
no stranger in all ages* Sometimes she has burned 
in the fire of persecution, and sometimes of division* 
.Cut as the bush was not consumed^ so neither shall 
n:t church be fin all v destroyed. In vain shall the 
great red dragon persecute this woman cloathed with 
the sun, and watch to devour her offspring ; for a 
place is prepared for her in the wilderness by the 
great God, and there no necessary provision shad be 
wanting* How many times have bloody and deceit- 
ful men conspired her distraction ? When were in- 
cendiaries wanting to foment and kindle those fires,, 
which, withoiiv the immediate interposition of the 
Keeper of Israel, would certainly have wasted unto 
distruction, and completed the utter extinction of 
this huttible bush ? What society, but this alone, 
could have subsisted to this day, in the midst of a 
hating world \ Where are now the mighty empires 



118 TYPICAL THINGS. 

of antiquity ? They are but an empty name, live on- 
ly in history, having fallen to pieces by their own 
weight, or been crushed by bloody war. But the 
church of Christ, though she has undergone many 
revolutions, remains, and will remain, when the 
consumption determined by the Lord of Hosts shall 
come upon all the earth. 

Ask you the reason ? The Angel of the Lord is 
in the bush, and though persecuted, she is not for- 
saken; therefore shall the firy trials, instead of con« 
sumlng her, serve to refine her, and add unto her 
glory, as the bush was only brightened by the flame. 

Dees not the famous history of the three Hebrew 
worthies, who, by faith, quenched the violence of 
lire, attest this whole matter in the most literal sense ? 
Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king, takes it into his 
head to erect a monstrous golden image, to be wcr- 
shipped by all his numerous subjects. The dedica- 
tion of this new god is celebrated by a. prodigious 
concourse of people, who, by the king's proclama- 
tion, assembled in the plains of Dura. A severe 
edict is issued forth against any person who should 
refuse to pay religious homage to the molten deny. 
He must be cast alive into a burning fire : for was 
rd, that cruelty and idolatry were scprr.it- 
ed ? The noise of every musical instrument is the 
signal for beginning the detestable rites of adoration. 
iat a parade to establish this silly superstition i 
And now the music sounds, see how the foolish peo- 
down in adoration to a senseless statue ! Yet 



THE BURNING BUSH. US 

are there found among the captives of judah, who 
dare dispute the royal order. O faith, how dost thou 
extend thy triumphs ! Who can sufficiently admire 
the excellent spirit, and the undaunted resolution of 
these heroes ? They stand before sovereign and an. 
gry majesty ; they seethe vast pomp of his courtiers; 
thev hear the sonorous peals of the music sent from 
a thousand instruments ; they beheld the prodigious 
furnace gleaming to the clouds: yet are they not ap- 
palled by any, by aU of these things, so apt to strike 
terror into vulgar minds, but despise them as ludic- 
rous and puerile. They boldly tell the king, thft the 
God they adored, was able to deliver them from his 
furnace, if he pleased ; and though he should not, 
they would not comply to worship another god. The 
sic that resounded through all the spacious plain, 
was not half so melodious as their answer to the 
king's menaces. The enraged tyrant orders, and 
without delay they are cast bound hand and foot in- 
to the burning flame. But mark the amazing events 
A marvellous thing is presented to the eyes of the 
king; for looking narrowly, he behclds not three 
men melting, but four men walking in the fire, a ad 
the form of the fourth is like the Son of God .These 
servants of the Lord were not ashamed of him, 
is he ashamed of them, but descends inabodily si 
(a prelude of his incarnation) looses their fetters, 
makes a covenant for them with the flames of fire, 
and walking with them openly in the furnace, pro- 
claims to all spectators, In as much a^> ye have done 



120 TYPICAL THINGS. 

it unto these my brethren, you did it unto me,* 
Go now, mighty monarch, and glory in thy despotic 
sway ; but remember there 's a Kingmore sovereign 
thc.n iht u, who can make the flames of fire harmless 
as the morning-l-gtu $ who can bid that firce and 
dreadful element spare ihjm whom thou biddest it 
to devour, though in the very heat of the oven ; 
and destroy them whom thou wishest it would not 
tou. h, though Bta$d i v c wit, out. 1 hus wherein any 
deals proudly, God is above them. The king, and 
all his counsellors, see with their eyes this extraor- 
dinary miracle, and that the faithful servants of 
God had not received the least damage by the fire, 
and are ashamed for their envy to the people. Thus 
VrT.s the promise fulfilled, When thou walkest tiro* 
the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neuher shall the 
flame kindle upon thee.t And so the bush, though 
burning, is not consumed in the fire. 

3. The PILLAR of CLOUD and FIRE, 

TH E sojourners of Goshen were now escaped 
from the land of Egypt, and about to enter 
into the vast wilderness of Arabia, that interposed 
betwixt them and the promised land. The Lord 
who makes the clouds his chariots, an 1 darkness his 
pavilion, was pleased to go before them in a marvel- 
ous pile of cloudy vapours, resembling a pillar, as- 
cending from their camp. H re he dwelt, not for ft 
t time, as in the bush, but for th : space of forty 
* Matth, :kxv. 40. f Isa. xliii. 2, 



THE PILLAR OF CLOUD, &c. 121 

V3. A most extraordinary thing to be sure ie 
was ; and none of the least of the standing miracles, 
Which he shewed to die chosen seed. The fame of 
this strange phenomenon was erread abroad among 
the nations, who heard that the cloud of the Lord 
stood above them, and m%hf very well be supposed 
tc move die question, Who is this that conies ivp 
from die wilderness ike pillars of smoke I* For 
1 so much from aU oihers that eves 
tverc: sen m it may justly be re .koied a compliea- 
m racks. It was miraculous that ks iorrn 
Wi s never change n h^re is nothing more va- 

liable than the appearance of ...:. u. \ 

thai s d tihftnigh the airy regions. It m raci** 

i, rf at it ..ion orcr 

the t; ien c.her clouds a i e ^a.r ed J out 

-with it nis i 

the cue e»treinH ' of \\ It was 

pairaculous, that it sb : ; -s dc ds ;■:... 

fort; 

in rain 
aniclevu ane in a very short -me are biottee 1 fi ve 
the face of the sky. It _.iraeulous, tha: this 

doud should move in such peculiar diret-.iQ i., as it 
hedbten endued vei'h instinct a»d intelligence ; foe- 
it was earned about by his counsels in a more irome-. 
cute way than can be said of the other clouas of 
heaveif. Lu; especially it was u uus, that con- 

f to :he nature of all other elects 1: | : ;e 

* Cast, ill 6, 



TYFICAL THINGS. 

brighter by night than by day, when it had the ap. 
pears nee of the shining* oi a flaming fire. 

As to the particular meaning oi this cloud where- 
with the Lord covered his Israel, not in his anger, 
but in his love 5 it was without, all doubt a v sible 
Sjmbol of a jrcsent Deity: God hereby conde- 
scending to adapt himself, as in many other things, 
to the rude ta&te of that ancient people, arid perhaps 
to signify the dark and cloudy - of the legal 

dispensation under which they were. But the pri~ 
1 reason I would suggest is the following. His 
&] pearing to Israel in a veil of cloud might be a pre- 
lude of his appearing in a veil of flesh, What tho' 
we shou j this pillar of cloud and fire is an em- 

blem of that glorious] . whom the ness 

:ined Willi the darkness of humanity ? 
*re were net two pillars, the one of cloud 
and re, ] ut liar both of clc 

■ ens of Immanuel, 

one 10 is 

. .. 

• 

} 
ntdl -art le 
. ; and 

r than ... 
c 

it New Tes 
&od, and w 
■ t dialect 



THE PILLAR OF CLOUD he. 123 

speaks of a glorious Angel arising rat of $ie easf, 

who ctrtainly was Christ himself: He was cloathed 
with a cloud, and his feet were as pillars o^ £reu A 
description which m'ghc very prob aide to this 

same cioud and fire. But if we Sake a more 

cular survey of the uses for which k served in the 
wilderness, we shall see with what admirable pro- 

firmed of Jesus Christ, who 

,yas the Angel that resided in the cloud, 
..at unto his church in cv^y age, in their be 
dered state, which the cloud was to the twelve trl ] = 
till they i\ the earthly Canaan. In whom but 

Jesus Christ can we suppose that the great a id pre- 
cious promise made to the m 

ived its accomplishment, Aid die Lc_ 
ite upon ._' .. 

and upon all he id sm 

day, and tie i a flaming tit: for 

11 the glory shall be a defence ?* What then 
were those uses for which this cloud served the Is- 
raelites ? 

It was their guide that went before them in the 
vast pathless desart, where they wandered in a soli* 
gray, So great was the regard 'they paid to ail 
motions, which they continually watched, that 
when it moved they struck their camp at any hour of 
the day or of the night ; when it halted, they pk: li- 
ed their tents, and there abode till its next remove, 
whether the time was short cr long. The times 

* Is, iv. 5. 

L2 



*fi« TYPICAL THINGS. 

ar.d seasons of their marching were not, as in other 
armies, adjusted by their counsels of war, nor left 
te the regulation eycn of Moses himself; for God 
put them wholly in his own power. However, it 
would appear, that its motions were properly timed 
and mercifully proportioned to the strength of the 
weak, and the convenience of all. Nor did it ever 
leave Ahem, for all their provocations in the wilder- 

, till they arrived at the land that flowed with 
milk and honey. Just such a general, unerring, 
itle, and perpetual guide is Jesus Ch.ht, by his 
example, word, and Spirit, to all the travellers for 
the better country through the wilderness of this 
world ; for, It is not in man that walks to direct 
his steps,* by his own wisdom, in the way that leads 
to life. Who can recount the wanderings of mise- 
rable sinners, till Jesus Christ was given a leader 
and a commander to the people ? lie it is who 
teaches to profit, and leads in the way wherein we 
hould go. Nor is it possible that any should miss 
eternal glory, who walk after him in the wilderness, 
conforming themselves to the dictates of his holy 
word, with the same care as the Israelites observed 
the motions of ;he miraculous cloud. O ye follow- 
ers of the Lamb, von shall not err under the con- 
duct of your celestial guide ; you shall be led forth 
in the way that is right, even where there is no way, 

ou come to the city of habitation ! 
It was their that protected them, when their 

• Jer. x. 23 



THE PILLAR OF CLOUD &c. 125 

Egyptian pursuers were pressing on their rear ; for 
it removed cm that occasion from their van, and went 

behind them, forbidding, by its darkness, the ap- 
proach of the hostile army all that nigkt on which 
they travelled through the flood oa foot. On this 
occasion we are told, that the Lord looked through 
the pillar, and troubled the Eg/ptian host at the 
hour of midnight. Tne waters saw thee, O God, 
the waters saw thee : they were afraid : the deeps 
also were troubled. Tae clouds poured out water, 
the skies sent out a sound : thine arrows went a- 
broad. The voice of thy thunder was in the Heav- 
ens : thy lightnings lightened the world, the earth 
trembled and shook. Thy way was in the sea, thy 
path in the mighty waters, and thy footsteps were 
not known. Thouleddest thy people like a flock 
by the hand of Moses and Aaron,* Such is that 
protection Jesus affords to his militant people, - 
being rescued from the bondage of sin, are march- 
ing forward to their goodly inheritance. Though 
Satan, with his infernal host, like the tyrant of E- 
gypt, pursues after them, and fondly thinks to re- 
claim the lawful captives, the glory of the Lord be- 
comes their rearward, Jesus is unto them for walls 
and bulwarks, forbidding the approach of mortal 
danger. He is their hiding-place, in whom they 
are preserved, like Israel in the cloud, being kept by 
the power of God, through faith unto salvation. 
It was their candle that enlightened their dark- 
* Ps, botvu, 16 17, 18. 19 20, 

L3 



135 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ness ; that smoothed the rugged brow of tht night, 
and served to abate the horrors of the wilderness af* 
ter the sun was set ; for it reserved its shining ap- 
pearance to the season when the Israelites were most 
in need of iis cheerful aspect. Nor dost thou, O 
thcu true Light ! suit thyself to the case of thy peo., 
pie with less condescension. Without thee this 
world were a dark place, and, to the eyes of out 
mind, more dismal than the dreary wilderness would 
have been in the blackest night to the Israelites, 
fri&ottt their kind officious cloud. Blessed be God 
for the sun, the moon, the stars ; but more for Jesus 
Christ, who delivers from the blackness of darkness 
for ever ; and who, like the cloudy pillar, is always 
most liberal of his lightsome manifestations, when 
his people are sitting in the darkness of adversity. 
House of Israel, let us walk in this light of the 
Lord ; whilst the way of the wicked, like the way 
of the Egyptians, is as darkness. 

It was their umbrella or screen to shade 'theTft 
from the sultry beams of the sun hi that torrid wil- 
derness. A most grateful service ! And whereas 
an apostle speaks of our fathers beingbaptited in the 
doud, it would seem, that on some occasions this 
beneficial cloud refreshed the Israelites, by shed- 
ding kindly dews upon their camp. So Jesus Christ 
Is to his people as a refreshing dew upon the grass, 
I :ud of the latter rain. Under his shad- 
v sit down with great delight, and find cool 
[jpom the set r thing beams both of divine 



THE PILLAH OF CLOUD Sec. m 

Wfath and worldly tribulation. Happy souls who 
have thus the Lord for their keeper, and for their 
shade on their right hand. The sun shall not smite 
them by day, nor the moon by night:* even that 
great and terrible day, which shall burn like an oven, 
will be to these favoured of the Lord as the times 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 

It was their oracle ; i'ot he spake unto them in 
the cloudy pillar. And it was their ornament ; for 
he spread this cloud for their covering, or cloth of 
state, making darkness not only his own, but their 
pavilion. How fitly both these may be applied to 
jesus Hirst, is not difficult to see. Who but Christ 
is the oracle of his church, in whom God speaks 
unto his people, both as a promising and prayer-an- 
swering God, without whom we would not have 
heard his voice at any time, but in the language of 
terror I Who but Christ is their ornament, who 
makes them terrible as an army with banners, and 
comely as Jerusalem I The pillar of cloud and fire 
was not half so adorning to their camp, as is thy 
gracious presence to every assembly and every 
dwelling-place of Mount Zion, O thou glorious Re - 
deemer I Even now thou art the light of the Gen- 
tiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. But how 
much mere when this imperfect scene shall pass 
away, and they shall know the import of that most 
gracious promise, The Lord shall be thine everlast- 
ing light, and thy God thy glory, f 
• Psal. ckxu 6. f is. lx. i% 



128 TYPICAL THINGS. 

4. The MANNA in the WILDERNESS, 

WE have seen how the horrors of th^ wilder- 
ness were considerably abated by their mirac- 
ulous cloud. But soon their provision they brought 
from Egvpt is spent ; and unless some new miracle 
is wrought for them, they have nothing before their 
eyes but the melancholy prospect of perishing with 
hunger. The faithless multitude, forgetting their 
Ute deliverance at the Red-Sea, fall to murmuring 
against Moses, and wished they had never stir- 
red from their house of bondage. Had they got 
what they deserved on this occasion, the Lord had 
sent fire from Heaven upon them instead of food : 
but God, who is rich in mercy, chose to still the fret- 
ful murmurs of his first-born with the breast, rather 
than with the rod. He bids the Heaven supply, by its 
bounty, what the earth denied by its barrenness ; and, 
without their toil or sweat, gives them plenty of bread, 
even in a land that was not sown. He rained down 
manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn 
of Heaven. Man did eat angels food : he sent t 
meat to the full.* How happy are they who are walk- 
ing after the Lord, though in a wilderness ! It was 
a convincing proof, that man does not live by bread 
alone.- But God intended, by this good gift, not only 
to supply their present necessity, but also to prefigure 
that spiritual meat presented in the gospel. In this 
interpretation we cannot possibly be wrong, when 



fhe MANNA in the WILDERNESS. 129 

we have no less an authority for it than Jesus Christ 
himself, who, speaking to his hearers on this very 
subject, says, Moses gave them not that bread from 
Heaven, but my Father glveth you the true bread 
from Heaven. For the bread of God is he that came 
down from Heaven, and gives Hfe unto the world; 
I am the bread of life.* Having therefore such by 
fallible testimony to the general meaning of this hea* 
\f food, let us try to find out the principal tracer of 
resemblance betwixt hand Jesus Christ, In order to? 
this we ihall shortly attend to the fallowing things. 
Its ^falling, * The manna fell from Heaven f* 
Christ is he that comes down from above. It fell 
14 round about their ca.mp f* Christ is to be found in 
the visible church, and no where else- — — 4 with the 
dew when they slept ;" Jesus Christ is purely the 
gift cf God, who descends, like dew, upon the grass, 

for whom we toil trot, sow not/ reap not u when: 

they were in the most absolute need, and ready to 
perish ;" when we were without strength, in due 
time Christ died for the ungodly — 4t when they were 
not at all deserving it, but grievously sinning, by 
preferring the flesh-pots of Egypt to the prospects 
of Canaan ;" and Christ laid down his life when sin- 
Hers were preferring the pleasures of sin and vani- 
ties of the World, to all tht things above. In a word, 
it fell u to such large quantities as to suffice that 
" numerous host ;* in Jesus Christ there is enough 
to supply every want. 
* John yi. ga 33. 



130 TYPICAL THINGS. 

Its gathering by all the Israelites, may s ! gnifv the 
improvement we all should make of the offered Sa- 
viour. It \\\is gathered every day ; so Christ should 
be daily improved by fahh. It was gathered in the 
morning; for we mist devote the best part of our 
time to seeking his face, as it is said, O Lord my 
God, early will I seek thee.* It was gathered with- 
out the cam ; so must the soul that seekshim retire 
from the hurry of the world ; or, to use the expres- 
sion of the sacr. d page, go out into the fields, and 
lodge in the vidages.t It was gathered a double por- 
tion on the sixth day , but on the seventh, which was 
the Sabbath,' they sirred not from their tents, but 
lived on what they laid up the dry before. So in the 
season of this mortal life must we labour for that 
meat that endures to everlastinglife, in the believing 
improvement of the means of grace ; and when the 
eternal Sabbath comes, we shall enjoy the hidden 
manna without means, or any painful en-Lnvoars. 

Its parting among the Israelites, seems not to be 
without its meaning. Seme gather less, some more, 
in proportion to their abiliiy and d ligence, but all 
received a homer (a large allowance) from the com- 
mon heap. By which means, as Moses reh 
" He that gathered much had nothing over," be- 
Cai sz he gave to him that gathered less ; and i; he 

jd little had no lack," because he re ct 
from him that gathered more. Was the manna part- 
ed liberally unto all ? None are straitened in J< s s 

• tfs, l*iii< x, f Sj'.£ vii IM 



The MANNA in the WILDERNESS, 1st 

Christ : They shall be abundantly satisfied with the 
fatness of God's house : and thou shalt make thera 
drink of the river of thy pleasure-. Was the man-. 
na equally distributed among the Israelites ? So all 
ievers, of every sex, of every age, of every na- 
tion, strong or week, eminett or obscure, do equally 
partake in the common saivation \ for all are ONS 
in Christ Jesus. 

It3 preparing in mills, mortars, and pans, where 
it was ground, beaten, £ni bak^d, to make it fit for 
digestion and nourishment, may put us in mind of 
the various sufferings of Chris 's body and soul, 
breadof Ged is he w*nch came down from 
re he could pi^ve the bread of life 
he behoved himself to die, That his flesh m'gh 
behored, as it were, to be bes 
of adversity., ground in the mill of 
:-. ■- :, aud baked as In the oven of ^he 

wrath of God, 

Its ag so sweet when thus prepared, (tbr it 

resembled the fatness or oiL and s^sciousntss of 

honey ] ts proving o w me and nurri , 

1, though of differing constitutions ; ma 

v , that jvsus Christ is to the soul both sweet 

and wh le food. -d to ihetasceof all, of 

5 and of lathers ? An A as 

manna i si d to have needed no other in~ 

gt ats to make it :e; no more does Jesus 

ist, or the doctrine of his go pel, need any for? 

- Psai. x^vi 8, f John yi. 33, 



iS2 TYPICAL THINGS 

eigii recommendation to the spiritual tas:e. O Uite 
ana see thai the Lard is good,? says the sweet smg„ 
er of Israd, and m another place, How sweet are 
words unto Hi) UiSvC , yea sweeter than hecey 
to m month It 

Its putrifying, if kept contrary tc God's command, 
i'w! what was not used to-day^tred weans a&d s 
to-morow,) might not this denote, ti*at who a he 
'.esome clo^aviv s ol Christ's gospel are hoarded 
in idle speculation, without being otherwise re- 
ceivcG. m love, cr digested in spiritual nourishment, 
the) are so far from b: ,ng the savour of life uruo life,. 
as they become the K.vour of death unto deadi, end 
breed the worms cf various lusts, and a condemn- 
ing conscience : on which account it ma/ be sa.d 
h.re, H:t. tethkno irk ;:, a ;.'-,o;a SOr- 

ICVv. ^ 

Its Vc-r^v despised by ihe rpul I food* 

by whicl i was dried away, ir| cotnpari 

i their rank Egyptian fa_v, renders it a prop.r 
i cf Je u Christ, the triu bread, \ ho is i 
I of men. Though the pure 
g oi Christ i$] ke the ro cma, i ■ food, (for 

Lhfcj th b ;* At] (kt fl U pr y ;.J jet ire there 
to v bi m the w rd i f the Lord is a r, preach, 
bey have u-< delight in it A romance, a \.h ' 
phical e itW n, a moral declamation a r litical 

: >s ar mere grateful than a ^cr^or w 
one i a crucified Redeemer. What is tlf s but to 

Ps. uxip, 8. 1 P.. ex k ioj, tM. i. 



The MANNA in the WILDERNESS. 133 

prefer the fish, the melons, the cucumbers, and on- 
ions of Egypt to the corn of Heaven? For their 
contempt of this celestial food, the Lord sent fiery 
Berpents to p .ague the murmurers and complamers. 
Nor do the despisers of Jesus Christ expose them- 
selves to less dreadful strokes, though they should 
not be of a corporal kind : for all these things hap- 
pened unto them for ensamples ; and they are writ- 
ten for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the 
world are come.* 

T- • re -.rvingitina golden pot, where, for a 
• a g es i ll was deposited in the most holy 

pic. 1 remained without corruption ; was it not 

strep? -.r-t-ition of Christ's ascension into Heaven, 
when: he appears in the presence of God, death 
having no more dominion ever him, and where he 
will he contained til! the time of the restitution of 
all things i Why else should communion with Chi ist 
in glory be spoken pf in terms alluding to this very 
thing ? For thus it is promised, To him that over- 
comes will I give to e: it oi the hidden manna,t in the 
words that the spirit says unto the churches. 

The continuance oi this heavenly bread for the 
space of forty years, (ior so iong they were in the 
wilderness), does it not clearly intimate, that Jesus 
Christ will never forsake his people while they are 
here below ? Still shall the bread of God descend in 
the dispensation of the everlasting gospel, while the 
necessities of his people call for it : for so he prom- 
* i Cor. x. n. f Rev. ii. 17. 

M 



154 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ised, when about to depart from the earth, Go, says 
he to his apostles, teach and baptize all nations : and 
3o ! I am with you always, even to the end of the 
orld.* 

The ceasing of the manna upon their tasting the 
corn of Canaan, may it not be viewed as a figure of 
ordinances, their ceasing when the wandering tribes 
shall gain their promised rest ? Or sha'l we say, 
that as their heavenly provision failed when they 
tasted the bread that comes out of the earth ; so 
when the children of God themselves begm to i 1- 
ish ever-much the things of the earth, they may ex- 
pect that heavenly consolations will be suspended in 
proportion ? When they are in worst terms with 
the world, or when it is unto them as a wilderness, 
and aland not sown, then truly God is good to Isra- 
el. Knew your mercy, ye distinguished iavourites 
of Heaven! ncr envy their happintss who eat the 
calves cut of the stall, and the lambs out of the fold, 
but are hj \ ' heritage of Jacob. Let 

nsual yol glut I the impure 

of s n, which, like the little book that John 
»et in t] :, but bitter in the 

m we may adapt the significant 
words in Job, His meat in his bowels' 1 is turned : it 
within him.t Let the rapacious 
worldling, who is smit with the r? arms of g' ' 

. o is all hurry, hurrv, about the bus i- 

io. f Job *x. * ' 



The MANNA m the WILDERNESS. 13$ 

nesses of this transitory life ; let him fill his belly 
with the hid treasure of God, which never ye: did 
satisfy a soul immortal. Let the legal self-j astkiu- 
ty, who is perhaps called by the name of Christ, 

bat eats his own bread, and wears his own appar- 
el, and trusts to his own righteousness, in what- 
soever shape, as the ground of his acceptance with 
God ; let him also spend his money for that which 
is not bread, and his tebour for that which satisfieth 
not. Bat let the Christian who knows the gift 
cf God, and the excellency of the heavenly pro- 
vision, let him labour net foe the meat that per- 
ishes, but for the meat that endures unto ever- 
lasting life. Hungry and starving soul, ; - 
for bread, the world gives yis. a stone ; what 
else are worldly riches I You ask a fish, the wc 
presents you with a serpent ; what else arc sinful 
pleasures ? But hearken diligently unto him who 
is himself the living bread, Eat that which is 
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 
Incline your ear, and come umo him ; hear, and 
your soul shall live.* What is a happy old age 
to a happy eterniiy I This, O Jesus, is thy un- 
speakable gift 1 He that ea^s thee by faith, s 
live for ever. He that comes to thee, shall nev- 
er hunger ; and what is more, shall never die. — 
O Lord, den . what thou wilt, but give us this 
bread for evermore ! 

* Isa. lv. 2. 3. 

M2 



136 TYPICAL THINGS. 

5. THE ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 

u T> RE AD shall be given them," says the pro- 
-*~* phetic voice j* the proof of this we have al- 
ready seen: "Their water shall be sure ;" the proof 
cf which we shall presently see. For he clave the 
rocks in the wilderness, and g ive them drink as out 
of the great depths. He brought also streams out 
of the rocks, and caused waters to run down like 
rivers. t What cannot this mighty God do, at 
whose command the clouds shall yield bread, which 
usually comes out of the earth, to appease the hun- 
ger of his beloved people ; and the rocks shall send 
forth water, which usually falls from clouds, to sat- 
isfy the thirst of his chosen race? Tremble, O earth, 
at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the 
God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a standing 
water, and the flinty rock into a fountain of water. £ 
Let us briefly recollect this memorable event, and its 
signification. 

The ransomed tribes are, for the trial of their 
faith conducted by the Lord, who alone did lead 
them, to a dry and thirsty spot in the wilderness at 
the rock Rcphidirn, where there was no water to 
drink. They ought to have recollected on this oc- 
casion, that the God who brought them here, would 
most certainly extricate them from their present 
difficulties, as he had done often before. But, O 
impatience, how absurd and unreasonable art thou ! 

* Is. xxxiii. 16. f Ps. lxxviii. 15 16. J ?s. cxiv. 7. 8. 



The ROCK in the WILDERNESS. 13/ 

Instead of betaking themselves to God by humble 
prayer, and quietly waiting for the salvation of the 
Lord, they impiously demand of Moses to give 
them water. They reproach him with decoying 
them out of Egypt, where they were living so happy. 
with no other design than to famish them in the 
wilderness. In vain does this meek and gentle ser- 
vant of God remonstrate the injustice and impiety 
of their outrageous conduct. They are at the- very 
point of stoning their deliverer, and rewarding, with 
cruel death, the good offices he had done them. He 
flies to God as his sanctuary, and invokes the al- 
mighty aid, not to revenge the affront offered him 
by the rude multitude, but to relieve them in their 
present straits. The prayer is no sooner made than 
answered. He is directed to take with him the el- 
ders of Israel, and the wonder-working rod, with 
h he smote the rivers : And behold, I will 
stand before thee there upon the rock in Koreb, and 
thoti shall smite the rock, and there shall come wa- 
ter out of it, that the people may drink.* Moses 
obeys, and the event crowns his wishes. But lone 
after, when the people were in Kadesh, and reduced 
to the same straits they were in at Rephidim, the 
unbelieving race relapsed into their old rebellious 
murmurs. Moses is directed to nearly the same 
method of relief, but does not acquit himself with 
the same temper and moderation. For they anger- 
ed him at the waters of strife, and provoked his 

* Exod. avii' 6 

M3 



138 TYPICAL THINGS, 

spirit so, that he spake unadvisedly with his lips, 
betraying at the same time, in presence of the 
whole assembly, his own diffidence in the promise of 
JEHOVAH : for being commanded to speak unto 
the rock, and assured that it would obey his voice, 
he seems to have exceeded his commission, by ad- 
dressing the host in the language of wrath and doubt- 
ing, and smiting the rock more than once. The 
miracle indeed was wrought, but the worker, though 
dear to God, severely punished for his offensive be- 
haviour and unbelief, being involved in the same 
fete, together with Aaron, as the rest of that gene- 
ration, to die in the wilderness, without entering in- 
to the promised land. 

That more was meant than to give water for 
their thirst, might have been presumed from the na- 
ked history in Moses. This God could do without 
a miracle. He could have opened the bottles of 
Heaven, or led them to another Elim. Or if he 
had chose the miraculous method, why s' ould the 
rock be smitten with a rod, to give streams in the 
wilderneas, and waters in the desart, while God 
himself was standing on its summit: But the great 
apostle of the Gentiles puts it beyond all doubt, and 
warrants us to say, without faultering, that this Rock 
v/as Christ.* Having therefore such an infallible 
vuide to our meditation, 1ft us reflect a little what 
was the rock; what was the smiting; and what the wa* 
U-r that issued from it,'and followed them inthe way. 
* i Co:, x 4- 



The ROCK in the WILDERNESS. 139 

The rock itself might be an emblem of his per- 
son, in whom is everlasting strength, to whom we 
may fly as a refuge, and upon whom we may build 
as a foundation. There is not, perhaps, a metaphor 
more frequent in the book of God than this, " God 
is a rock." Though never once used before this 
remarkable occurrence, yet soon after it is adopted 
by Moses in his dying song. 

The smiting of the rock might prefigure his satis- 
factory sufferings, who was stricken, smitten of 
God, and afflicted ; and one of the soldiers opened 
his side with a spear, and there came out blood and 
water. The rock was smitten with the rod of Mo- 
ses, the type of the law ; and it was the curse of the 
law that subjected him to the ignominious cross, 
who redeemed us from the curse of the law, being 
made a curse for us.* The rock was smitten in the 
presence of the elders and people of the Jews with 
noise and tumult. So Christ was wounded for our 
transgressions at Jerusalem, the most public place ; 
and at the passover solemnity, the most public time. 
Then and there he endured the cross, and despised- 
the shame. At the commandment of the Lord the 
rock was smitten ; and by the commandment of the 
Lord was the Captain of our salvation made perfect 
through sufferings. It was smitten but once with 
approbation, and when Moses smote it twice, the 
Lord was angry for doing it. Might not this be an 
obscure intimation, that Christy by one offering^ 
* Gai, iii. 13. 



140 TYPICAL THINGS. 

should finish the work of our redemption ? for he 
needed not often to suffer from the foundation of the 
world. But whoever they be that crucify to them- 
selves the Son of God afresh, they shall not go un- 
punished. 

The water that issued from the rock, what might 
it signify ? Shall we say, it is an emblem of the glad 
tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which are to 
the distressed conscience as cold water to a thirstv 
soul ? In vain did the poor and needy seek water to 
refresh their troubled minds in the legal doctrine of 
the scribes and Pharisees, or in the philosophical dis- 
quisitions of the Gentile sages. Still their soul failed 
them for thirst. But the Lord heard them, and the 
God of Jacob did not forsake them.* For in the 
preaching of the everlasting gospel, both to the Jews 
and Gentiles, the charming promise received its ac- 
complishment in the most ample manner, I will open 
rivers in the high places, and springs in the valleys. 
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the 
dry land springs of water. t The beasts of the field 
shall honour me, the dragon and the owl, because I 
give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the des- 
alt, to give drink to my people, my chosen. J Ox* 
shall we say, that the water from the rock is an em- 
blem of the influences of the blessed Spirit, that, 
like a river pure as crystal, issues from the throne 
of God and the Lamb ? To this refreshing, cleans- 
ing, and prolific clement, our Lord himself com- 

• Isa. xii. 17. t Vcr, 18, f Chap, aliii. 20- 



The ROCK in the WILDERNESS. 141 

pares this glorious person, when on the last day of 
the feast, he stood and cried, If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me and drink. He that believes on 
me, out of his belly shall Sow rivers of living water* 
This he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe 
on him should receive.* Or shall we say, that this 
water may be an emblem of that precious blood of 
Christ, which cleanses from all sin ; and except we 
drink it in a spiritual manner, we can have no life ia. 
us ? Or, lastly, shall we say, that the water that issu- 
ed from the smitten rock did represent all the bless- 
ings of redemption, the salutary effects of his suffer- 
ings and death ? for to him we may apply what the 
prophet fortels, And a man shall be as rivers of wa- 
ters in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock 
in a weary land.t 

These waters flowed not till the rock was smitten 
with the rod of Moses. Nor could we have derived 
these gracious benefits from Christ, which we do 
partake, if he had not suffered. The striking of a 
flint, one should think, would rather bring fire than 
water. But it was of the Lord of Host r who is 
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. 
Who would imagine, that the Redeemer's sufferings^ 
which in themselves were tragical and melancholy, 
should prove so consolatory to the believing soul? O 
christian, it is thine to extract joy out of sorrow, 
happiness out of misery, glory out of ignominy, 
life out of death, though these things seem as im- 
possible a to fetch water from the flinty rock. 
• John vii. 37, 38, 39, f Isa. xxxii. 2. 



142 TYPICAL THINGS. 

The waters flowed when the rock was smitten, not 
in a scanty measure, but in large abundance. The 
miraculous stream was not exhausted, though many 
hundred thousand men, with their herds, drank of it. 
Nor were the dry places of that sandy desart able to 
imbibe the copious moisture. So inexhausted is the 
fulness of Jesus Christ, from whom all sorts of men, 
the Jews, the Gentiles, the Barbarians, the Scythians 
the bond, and the free, may receive all sorts of bless- 
ings. You are not straitened in him, O children 
of men; this river of God, which is full of water, 
can never run dry, nor be exhausted, how abundant- 
ly soever we drink of its refreshing streams. 

The waters that flowed from the rock, were not 
only sufficient to supply the present straits of Israel ; 
but as the sacred story tells, they followed them in. 
the way, for some considerable time, at least after 
the rock was smitten. So Jesus Christ imparts the 
blessed fruits of his satisfactory death, not only to 
the flVt ages of Christianity, but to the most distant 
ages of the world. Never shall this goodness 
and mercy cease to follow all that are Israelites in- 
deed, till mortality shall be swallowed up of life, 
till the wilderness be exchanged for Canaan, and the 
militant resign to the triumphant .^tate. The winter 
shall not arrest this river with icy fetters, and the 
drought of summer shall not drink it up like a 
brook ; for thus the promise runs, by the mouth of the 
prophet Zechariah, In summer and winter shall it be. # 
• Zcch. xiv. 8. 



The ROCK in the WILDERNESS. 143 

Blessed be our Rock, who consented to be smit- 
ten, that we might drink abundantly of the river of 
pleasures. Great was the love of David's three 
worthies, who hazarded their lives, to purchase for 
their longing general a draught of water from the 
well of Bethlehem. But greater was the love of 
Jesus, who lost his life, and poured his precious 
blood, that we might draw water with joy from the 
wells of salvation, when hungry and thirsty our sou* 
fainted in us. O that men would praise the Lord 
for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to 
the children of men 1* May this river, the streams 
whereor make glad the city of God, be our consola- 
tion in this dry and thirsty land ! ye broken cisterns 
of this world, sinful pleasures, vain comforts and 
delights, and our own legal righteousnesses, can 
you supply the place of this fountain of living wa- 
ters ? How miserably shall they be disappointed, 
who exchange the one for the other ? They Thatf 
come back with their pitchers empty: they ^huii be 
a.hamed and confounded, and cover their head?, 
How; justly they deserve that God should bring u P ^ 
on them the waters of the river, strong and many, 
and pour upon them the ftiry of his anger, who re- 
fuse these waters of Shiloah that go sefSj ! Open, O 
Lord, the ears of sinners to hear thy gracious invi- 
tation, Ho, every one that thinteth, come ye to tfuT 
water^t Open their eyes to see this well, as once 
opened the ^tyts of Kagar in the wilderness, 
Psa.. cyii. 8, f isa. J v . i. 



144 TYPICAL THINGS. 

lest 'n hell they lift up their eyes in torment, with- 
out a drop to tool the'.r tongue. O grant us to be- 
lieve on him, that we may never thirst ! 

6. THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 

THE host of Israel had long traversed the deso- 
late wilderness, and find ng no end of their 
wanderings, instead of accepting this puivshment 
of their iniquity from the hand of the Loid, again 
they murmur sginn^t h'm snd Mi sts, ana under-' 
value their I eavenly prcvi.nn, though the food of 
angels. The incensed JEHOVAH ci mmanJs 
the serpents to bite them. The serpent- obeyed, and 
m.av of the people die 1. The survivors, convinc- 
ed of their error, confess their fault, and beg that 
Moses would intercede for them with their offended 
Gpd. Moses hearkens to the people, and t e Lord 
Was rntreated of him. But observe the strange man- 
ner wherein the cure was wrought. Does he kill 
these poisonous and fiery flying serpents outright ? 
No. Does he drive them tu some distant region of 

earth, or remote corner oTthe wilderness, where 

Israelites would be anno , ed with them no more ? 
Nor this neither. Or dees he rcsrain these noxious 
creatures from s inging them, which was also po - 

le, though ihey swarmed in the camp? None of 
The serpents are suffered to live ; suf- 

d to remain in tl ■ p; and suffered to bite as 

But a brazen serpent is, by Gpd'* command, 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 145 

lifted upon a pole, that it might be conspicuous from 
afar ; and whoever snatched a look of this lifeless 
serpent, needed net fear the bke of the living ones ; 
for the wound was not mortal. Happy art thou ? O 
Israel, a people saved by the Lord.* They were 
hungry, and they had miraculous bread ; thirsty, 
and they were supplied with m.raculous drink; now 
they are sick and wounded, and they are favoured 
with miraculous medicine. Here indeed the scrip- 
ture was fulfilled in the most literal sense : Foots, 
ir transgression, and because of their 
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all 
meat, and they draw near to the gates of 
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trou- 
he saveth them out c c distresses, He 

his word, and healed il:-:n r and delivered, them 
os.t 
Let U3 be jirJnent figure, at once our 

miserable stat; ti, and the method of our recov- 

ery by Jesus Christ, who, from, this very thing, 
preached to Nicodemus die doctrine of his cross ; 
For as Moses, said he, lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lift- 

The devil and his angels, these are the fiery flying 
serpents, w'ho, though invisible to the eye, have 
stung the race of Adam, and have insinuated their 
deadly poison through the who.e mass of human na- 

* Deut. xxxiii. 29. f Psal. evil. 17. 18. 19 29. 

| John iii. 14. 

N 



146 TYPICAL THINGS. 

turc ; for which we may take up the prophets la- 
mentation, The whole head is sick, and the whole 
heart faint.* Ever since we brake over the hedge 
of the divine law, these serpents have incessantly 
bit us. This makes the world a terrible wilderness 
indeed, a land of trouble and anguish, whence come 
the viper, and the fiery flying serpent. It is true, 
the wounds that are made by the scorpions of hell, 
may seem but slight at the first \ for many a time 
they have stricken us, and we were not grieved. — 
But as the unhappy Israelite scon perceived the 
deadly venom drinking up his vitals j so shall the 
devil's fiery darts, sooner or later, inflame the con- 
science, and never fail to enkindle in the heart a 
burning fever of unsatisfied and irregular desires. — . 
It was only the death of the mortal body that threat- 
ened the stung Israelite. But the soul, the immor- 
tal soul, is endangered by the bite of the infernal 
serpent, unless an antidote can be found. And this* 
antidote ia die Lord Jesus Christ, of which thy set* 
pent, Mos i a figure. 

It may perhaps seem odd at first, that so noxious 
and hateful a creature as the serpent should be made 
an emblem of the amiable and beneficent Redeem- 
er j especially when we consider that the serpent is 
a name commonly appropriated to t> : e grand adver- 
sary of God and man ; and in the scripture-sdle 
wicked men are called serpents, and a generation of 

i ;. Ik:; iet us reflect to whom he is a serpent ; 

• Jsa- i- 5- 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 147 

for he is to the devil what this malicious spirit is un- 
to us, that is, his destroyer. Why should it not be 
equally proper to compare the gracious Redeemer 
to the serpent as to the lion, both which are names 
of his great enemy ? What is the strength of the 
roaring lion of hell, to his strength who is the Lion 
bf the tribe of Judah ? And what is the subtlety of 
the devil, the old serpent, to the wisdom of Jesus 
Christ, the new ? Besides, the serpent being the 
first cursed creature, may, even on this account, be 
pitched on as a type of him who was to become a 
curse for us. But whereas the serpen* of Moses 
was- void of poison, and wore no sting, for it was on- 
ly the form of a serpent ; it is natural here to th 
how Jesus Christ only appeared in the likeness cf 
sinful flesh, but was utterly a strong :r to the venom 
of sin, though in all ether things made like to us, 
whose poison is as the poison of a serpent. Wheth- 
er the strength and lustre of the brass might be a 
faint shadow of the strength and g'ory of thai won. 
derful person, the God-man, I shall not affirm. 

But the lifting up this serpent seem: an evident 
prediction of that death which Christ should die.— 
Here he is evidently set forth crucified before us, as 
we are taught by himself who is the end cf the law 
for righteousness, when speaking of the death he 
should die, And L says he, if I be lifted up from the 
earth, will draw all men alter me,* The serpent 
was lifted up on a pole ; and Christ was fitted up on 
* Joha x!I 32. 

K2 



j 48 TYPICAL THINGS. 

the accursed tree. The serpent- was lifted up by 
ses, the figure of the law ; and Qirist was, by 
lav ^ subjected to endure the cross* The ser- 
was lifted up in the most conspicuous manner 
amid the camp cf Israel ; and the crucifixion cf the 
Son of God was transacted in the most public man- 
i ei at Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea. It was 
I who commanded the serpent to be lifted up in 
the wilderness ; and it was God who commanded 
Lord and Saviour to lay down his life, and ad- 
justed, by his determinate counsel, all the shameful, 
and all the painful circumstances of that awful and 
amazing scene. If it had not been with a view to 
its elevation on the pole, Moses had not been order- 
ed to make this brazen image j nor would the Son 
of God appeared in the likeness of a man, but with 
itention to expire on the cross, and give his life 
a ransom for many. The serpent was lifted up, 
that whosoever beheld it, might be healed and live ; 
and Christ was crucified, that whosoever believ- 
eth in him, might not perish, but have everlasting 
life. 

That a wounded Israelite should be saved by look- 
ing, and a perishing sinner by believing, are things 
that bear no small resemblance to each other. For 
what is believing on him, but seeing him who is in* 
visible, that, like Moses, wc may endure ? What is 
it but looking on him whom we have pierced, that 
wc may mourn ? How fitly may the glorious words 
in the prophet Isaiah come from the mouth of the 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 

crudfied Redeemer, Look unto me, and be saved. 

all ye ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is 
none else ; besides me there is no Saviour ?* Let 
us more particularly observe the likeness of th 
remedy to ours. 

It was a method gi cure solely contrived and ap- 
pointed of God 5 from whose ordinance alone it re- 
ceived its efficacy. Who would so mu:h a? h 
imagined in a dream, that to look at a dead serpent 
of brass, would cure the bite of a living serpent? 
Should reason be allowed to give her verdict, she 
would perhaps be so far from pronouncing it a pr 
er expedient, that she would rather judge it a gi 
absurdity ; especially if it be true what some affirm. 
tint the sight of burnished brass is naturally perni- 
cious to them who are bitten of serpents ; and if it 
be true,whai is also asserted, that to see but the shape 
of any venomous creature, increases the torment of 
the unhappy suiTtrer whom it bit. Exactly so : 
the method of our recovery By the cross of Jesus 
Christ, is a device that culms God himself for its 
only original. The world, by wisdom, never would 
have arrived at the kriowledge of it ; nay, it is a 
thing they are highly offended with ; for it is in 
them that perish foolisHness : but to them th^t are 
saved; it is th- wisdom of God, and the power of 
God unto salvation, to every one who believeth. — 
Tnoagh reason would no: have thought,, God has 
^rde-ined it. To this alone must all ire efficacy b^ 

* Isa. sly, 22, 

N3 



150 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ascribed : for it is the will of the Father, that who- 
soever seeth the Son, and believes on him, should 
no^ perish, but have everlasting life.* 

It was a method of cure that never failed, being 
no less sure than strange. Not an Israelite died, as 
Moses assures us, who looked at the brazen ser- 
pent. Where were they ever ashamed that put 
their trust in Christ ? Were they ever disappointed 
in their expectations, that believed in him for ever- 
lasting life ? 

It was a method of cure that might be easily put 
in practice by an Israelite, if he was not blind. Per* 
haps he might happen to receive his wound in some 
remote place of the camp > and though it should 
have affected him in such & manner, that he could 
neither move hand nor foot, yet without stirring 
from the place where he was, without sending for 
physicians to apply their medicines, he was saved 
by one glance of his eye. In like manner, if the 
god of this world has not blinded our minds, we are 
rvwed, not by working, but by believing. Th« 
-voi ks of the law are physicians of no value to the 
distressed conscience ; but Christ is a present help, 
and to find him we need neither climb up into Heav* 
$8, nor descend into the deep* 

It wss a remedy that might be repeated as often 
as there was occasion for it. So Christ is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, to whom we may warrantably 
recourse as Oilen as wc are wounded by hell- 
* John vi. 4©« 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. tst 

kh temptations, and in every time of need. Yet let 
no abuser of this heavenly doctrine infer, that be* 
cause the remedy is at hand, we may be careless 
and secure, and expose our elves at random to the 
painful stings of the infernal serpents. What Isra* 
elite would been so mad as to handle these hateful 
creatures, and court them to instil their venom, with 
no other design than to try the experiment of the 
brazen serpent's virtue ? Would not this been a 
horrid perversion of that healing ordinance, and at 
least a tempting the Lord ? But the truth is, the 
human race do not more abhor the touch and neigh* 
bourhood of serpents of every kind, than an Israel- 
ite indeed, or a sincere believer, when acting up to 
his character, will abhor even all approaches to 
temptation. It is every wh*t as reasonable to sup- 
pose ? that because the serpents in the wilderness 
were not permitted to destroy the Israelites, by rea- 
son of their heavenly antidote, therefore they loved 
the serpents, and delighted in their society ; as it is. 
to suppose, that the true Chris :ian can be encour- 
aged to sin, or love that which he hates, because of 
abounding grace. 

It was a remedy that proved effectual* without all 
doubt, to the Israelite who used it> though his vis- 
ive faculty had been ever so weak. So the weakest 
faith if genuine, is as saving as the strongest, be- 
cause its object is the same. 

It was, in short, a remedy that ascribed the whole 
glory to God; even as in the work of our salvation 



152 TYPICAL THINGS. 

by Jesus Christ, all boasting is excluded. While 
the believing soul treads upon the adder, and tram- 
ples the dragon under feet, and says, O death, 
where is thy sting ?* O Satan, where is thy power? 
let him also say, Thanks be unto God, that gives us 
the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.t 

7, THOUGHTS on the VAIL of MOSES. 

THE lawgiver of the Jews having ascended the 
second time to mount Sinai, where he obtain- 
ed a sight of the divine glory, and got the second 
tables inscribed anew, with the finger of God, after 
the first were broken, now descends to the camp 
with the tables in his hand, but is greatly surprised 
to see his brother Aaron, and other Israelites, filled 
with perturbation at his approach, and afraid to look 
him in the face. Such horror might indeed have well 
become them the first time he descended; for they 
had, during his absence, been guilty of that almost 
unpardonable crime, the making the golden calf? 
which they could notbut suspect would be highlyre- 
sentedboth b) God and Moses. But now their i eace 
was made, and their prophet comes with the pledges 
of reconciliation in his hand, what can be the reason 
(might he say to himself) of my brcthrens. running 
away fromme, as I were still their enemy? The face 
of Moses was equally meek as before ; but the 
the features were the same, it shone with a j 

)lc to every body but himself. This fctra 

• Cor. xv. 55« t Vcr. 5« 7. 



THE VAIL OF MOSES. 153 

nomenon was the cause of that awful distance the7 
kept. But perceiving that his voice was the same, 
though his face was altered, they resume their cour- 
age, and venture to approach him, though still they 
dare not come to any close interview with their 
shining lawgiver, till, in condescension to their 
weakness, he put a vail upon his glorious face. Such 
iionour it pleased God to confer on his faithful ser- 
vant, not only to inspire the minds of the Israelites 
with greater reverence for him, but chiefly to digni- 
fy that dispensation of which he was the minister,, 
We are not told how long this miraculous brightness 
lasted, but in all appearance it was not of long dura* 
tion, and vanished gradually away, to signify the 
transient nature of that oa conomy. 

Moses himself, perhaps, intended no more by 
vailing his face, than what is expressed in the histo- 
ry. However, the wisdom of the Holy Ghost hav- 
ing given us an allegorical interpretation of this ac- 
tion, by the mouth of the apostle Paul, let us dwell 
upon it a little. 

The vail upon the face of Moses, according to 
that eminent apostle, didsignify, that, partlythrough 
the obscurity of their law, and partly through the 
blindness of their hearts, the children of Israel could 
not stedfastly look to the end of that which was abol* 
ished. Now that which was abolished is their legal 
dispensation, and the end of that which was abolish- 
ed is Jesus Christ himself, who is the end of the 
law for righteousness^as having fulfilled its meaning, 



154 TYPICAL THINGS, 

cancelled its authority, and introduced in its room 
a far more excellent oeconomy. 

What ! may some reply, did Israel not know the 
meaning of their law? Was it the intention of the 
Almighty to conceal from them a thing in which 
they are so highly interested? Had they no sufficient 
intimations, that their ritual institutions did point at 
better things, and were, in future time, capable of 
repeal, and would actually receive an end ? 

In answer to this, it is not at all denied, but there 
were many things in the writings and law of Moses, 
that not obscurely hinted its true design. The vail 
cf Moses was not so thick and broad, but some 
rays of his did actually transpire. Even as the 
darkness and blackness that involved the frigh* 
ted sun n't of mount Sinai, was interspers- 
ed with flashes of lightning, and gleams of 
fire. The attentive Israelite, who meditated upon 
the law of the Lord day and night, might know 
that more was meant than was plainly expressed. 
The constant expectation of a Messias. waich uni- 
versally obtained in all ages of the Jewish church, 
might fully convince them of the weakness of their 
rites, to do whn they seemed to promise, and that 
the ceremonial law was far from being the whole of 
their religion. They had it hinted unto them in the 
dying benediction of their great forefather, that their 
judicial law should not be always observed, but that 
a period should arrive, when the sceptre should do- 
I art from the royal tribe. A small measure of ac** 



THE VAIL OF MOSES. 1S5 

quaintaftce with their own hearts might have easily 
persuaded them, that the demands of the moral law, 
or ten commandments, were too rigid for them ever 
to hope justification, by their compliance with them; 
for however much it may he thought, by superficial 
observers, that the first nine precepts in the law may 
be fulfilled by an imperfect creature; yet itisevi-* 
dent, that the very letter of the tenth commandment 
forbids the sins of the heart, and all the motions of 
concupiscence. How can the proudest legalistplume 
himself with the foolish conceit of being able to con- 
form himself in all respects to the very letter of the 
law, when the very letter of the law says, Thou shult 
not covet ?f If then there were many Israelites who 
rested in their law, without looking any further, and 
fondly imagined that it was able to give them eter- 
nal life, this fatal mistake was not chiefly owing tp 
the obscurity of their dispensation, but to the blind- 
ness of their hearts, that were hard as the stones on 
which their law was written, and vailed as their 
lawgiver's face* 

But, after all, it must be confessed, the law and 
holy books of Moses, have mu_h obscurity in them 
when compared with the great plainness of speech 
used by the apostles in the New Testament. They 
may be compared to a fine picture placed in a dark 
corner, though its principal figures may be discern- 
ed by a penetrating eye : it is however, impossible 
the delicate touches of the pencil, the distribution^ 
f Exod. xx. 17. 



%$6 TYPICAL THINGS. 

of light and shade, the beauty of the tints, the ele- 
gancy of the designs, can be thoroughly perceived 
by the most vigoroi s sight, till the finished piece i* 
translated from its obscure situation, and set in an 
advantageous light. 

One that reads the writings of Moses, and throws 
cut a cursory glance over the moral, the ceremonial 
and the judicial l&tr, without remembering that, 
like Moes, they ptH a vail on the ; r fa e, would be 
yer apt t o qn : -.. fcc he true design of- the whole sys- 
tem, and to entertain many erroneous opin'ons, that 
really hi6Qrlii£tertt with is or'ginal intent'on, 
igtt t.iey seem to be founded upon it. One would 
think, .he ceremonial worship, prescribed *o minute- 
ly by I • 5 . s, sn st ~erta»nly have been very accepta- 
ble to God, v -vtn fbf '5 own sake, or he v. 'na rd never 
been :'H pa tts to adjust, by his express audio rity$ 
the ! ■■;:. egi c r.unst.a:es relative un".o it. One 
would s Lnosi iro igttte, that the Deky took pleasure 
to eat the fle; \{oi biSUs, and drink t ie blood of goa:s: 
that he is pleas d even with outwarti corporal un- 
cleannssses ; v tfte beauty of his worship cons'sts 
in the oiitwsrd mp of Splendtc} rites ; that the 
oodof slat g beastswasabie to take away sin; 

that man has stiH . ower to obey the moral law ; 
that we jnust elite fc o life by keeping the com- 
mandmeuts \ that righteousness can come by the 
law; that the na:,r eed of Abraham could nev- 
er be rejected from beittg the people of God; 
th^ir civil state should never be unhinged, and 



THE VAIL OF MOSES. ur 

their ceremonies should never be abolished. These, 
and many such false opinions, might been suggested 
by the terms in which the law is uttered : and many 
a carnal Jew was taken in this snare. Even unto 
this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their 
hearts.* 

In vain did the prophets endeavor to pull this vail 
aside, and reclaim from these vain imaginations that 
stiff-necked people, the bulk of whom persevere in 
their absurd prejudices, and presumptuous expecta- 
tions, to this very day. 

If any should enquire, why the revelation of the 
divine will was not equally plain in the past as in 
the present age ? why the God with whom light 
dwells, would deliver a law to his people, of which 
the true design and genuine scope was not obvious 
at the first view ? It is not for us to dive into the 
eternal counsels ; it was the will of God that it 
should be so; and who dares say to him, What 
dost thou ?t Let us rather observe how the vail 
was gradually removed, till Moses stands confessed, 
and the design of his oeconomy is no longer a mys- 
tery, since the revelation of Jesus Christ. v 

Much is said in the prophetic scriptures, that 
might have undeceived the blind Jews, and taught 
them to abate their vain confidence in their national 
privileges, their ceremonial observances, and their 
moral righteousnesses* The grand doctrines of 
Christianity, relating to the person, the character, 

* Z Cor. iii. 1$. f Job ix. 12. 

O 



153 TYPICAL THINGS. 

and mediation of Jesus Christ, are laid down in 
these venerable writings with greater perspicuity 
than in the hooks of Moses. But though the proph' 
ets harmoniously conspire in giving their suffrage to 
every Christian doctrine ; yet still they put upon 
their face the vail of poetical figures, and ceremoni- 
al phrases. They describe spiritual blessings by 
images of civil peace and plenty. With them the 
victory of Jesus Christ is the treading of a wine- 
press, in which the wine is the blood of slaughtered 
enemies ; prayer is incense, and a pure offering ; 
conversion is going up to Jerusalem; gospel-wor- 
fchip is the celebration of the festivals of the Jews. 

But now comes John the Baptist, the harbinger 
cf Christ, who talks still plainer than Moses, or the 
prophets ; and instead of commending the Levitical 
sacrifices, he invites his hearers to regard that un_ 
known person, to whom he pointed, as the comple- 
ment of them all, Behold the Lamb of God, that 
takes away the sin of the world.* 

But by the ministry of Christ, and his blessed a T 
postles the law is wholly unmasked, and the vail on 
Moses' face entirely done away. The lowly birth, 
indigent life, and ignominious death of the Messias 
himself, was an incontestible proof, that his king- 
dom is not of this world, as the Jews expected.- — 

.ugh he was the great High Priest, he gave no 
attendance at the altar ; and his forerunner, though 

d a Levite, never officiated in the temple. This 

K John 1 29. 



THE VAIL OF MOSES. 159 

Iras a plain declaration, that he was come to abrogate 
these ancient rites. But if we attend to the strain 
of his doctrine, it will appear how it was calculated 
to remove the vail, and cure the prejudices of the 
mistaken Jews* He taught, that a man is not de- 
filed by what enters in at the mouth ; foretold, that 
their city and temple, the centre of their worship, 
should be razed, and that a spiritual worship should 
be established over all the world, and might be pre- 
sented unto God in every place. That he might 
pave the way for explaining the grand doctrine of 
justification by his imputed righteousness, he expa- 
tiated upon the vast extent of the moral law, and foe* 
quendy inculcated the sad depravity of human na* 
ture. He spoke of himself as the fulfiller of all 
righteousness, the heavenly manna, and ;he antitype 
of the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. 

But after his ascension, he inspired his apostles 
to finish what he had only begun, and completely re- 
move that vail which Moses put upon his face. By 
their apostolic decree, they instructed the Christie a 
Gentiles in their New Testamentliberty ; and by their 
epistles addressed to the primitive churches, they en- 
tirely dissipated the obscurity of the Old Testament 
shadows. Now it appears, that the k'ngdcm of God 
is not meats and drinks, but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost; that the Mosaic law 
was only a school-master to tutor the church in her 
childish state, and train her up for a more perfect 
institution. Now we plainly see, that righteousness 



160 TYPICAL THINGS. 

cannot possible come by the law, nor pardon by the 
sacrifices. If the vail is not still upon our hearts, we 
may behold, with open face, the glory of the Lord, 
and be changed into the same image, from glory to 
glory. Now the face of the covering spread over 
all people, and the vail cast over all nations, is en* 
tirely destroyed ; and therefore, O house of Israel, 
come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 

€. OF SACRIFICES. 

O ACRIFICING is a religious action, in which a 
^ creature devoted to God was in a solemn man- 
ner destroyed in his presence, for sacred ends ; and 
it was a mode of worship that obtained in the most 
early ages of the world. It may not only be traced 
up to the famous sera of giving the law from Mount 
Sinai ; for the ancient patriarchs did commonly 
practise it. How many altars were built by Abra- 
ham, and his grandchild Jacob ? Mekhizedec was 
a priest of the most high God; Job oifered sacri- 
fices both for his children and for his friends ; and 
God smelled a savour of rest, when Noah sacrificed 
clean beasts and birds upon the altar which he built 
unto the Lord. But why do I mention these vene- 
rable personages as the most ancient practisers of 
sacrificial worship, when it may be more than con- 
jectured, that Adam himself did use it ? Can we 
think, when Abel offered unto the Lord the first- 
lings of his flock, that his father did not instruct 



OF SACRIFICES. 151 

him to testify in this manner his fear of the Lord ? 
And what shall we say of the coats of skins which 
the Lord made for them, or directed them to make I 
The beasts to whom they belonged, cannot, so soon 
after the creation, be supposed to have died of age ; 
they behoved therefore to be slain. How natural 
to suppose that they were slain in sacrifice, rather 
than for any other use ? Perhaps, it was not without 
a mystery, that the skins of these beasts should 
clothe their bodies, whose blood made attornment 
for their souls. To be short then, though we can 
by no means assent, that, in the state of innocence, 
there would been the least occasion for them, they 
seem, however, to be as ancient as the promise a- 
bout the seed of the woman, who was to have his 
heel bruised, while he bruised the serpent's head. 

The antiquity of sacrifices being supposed, let us 
now see by whose authority they were first enjoined. 
And it will be certainly found, that as their date is 
ancient, their original is divine. That God pre- 
scribed them to his chosen people, is not disputed ; 
for a great part of the sacred volume is occupied in 
describing the various laws by which this species 
of worship should be adjusted. But what shall we 
think of the sacrifices that were offered by the patri- 
archs before the lay/ ? Were they acts of will-wor- 
ship ? Did. they contrive this mode of adoration 
from their own brains ? Did the light of nature dic- 
tate, that the Deity could be delighted with butch- 
ering, slaying, and burning a hanaHss brute, or 

03 



162 TYPICAL THINGS. 

otherwise destroying creatures that were inanimate? 
No : neither did the light of nature dictate them, 
nor blind superstition, but the sovereign will, and 
positive command of God, is their original warrant. 
Be it so we read of the practice, before we read of 
the precept, still, from the former, we may fairly 
infer the latter : for such eminent saints would 
never have adventured to express their devotion in 
such a strange manner, if they had not been requir- 
ed to do so by the declared will of God. Indeed, 
without such a persuasion, they could not have of- 
fered in faith : and we are assured, by an authority 
too great to be controverted, that the first man, 
whose sacrifice is expressly mentioned in scripture, 
offered, through faith, a more excellent sacrifice 
than Cain, of which the Deity was pleased to testify 
his acceptance, by some distinguishing marks of 
regard. Now, let us even suppose these primative 
believers might been so presumptu ous as to invent, 
or practise, without the command of God, such 
bloody rites, it can never be admitted, that God, 
who has, upon all occasions, testified his displeasure 
against the inventions of men in his worship, would 
have smiled upon such self-devised modes of ado- 
ration. Instead of testifying of their gifts, and ac- 
cepting their burnt-ofterings, would he not rather 
have upbraided them, as in the words of that well- 
known reproof, Who hath required this at your 
hands :* Upon the whole, then, it is easy to see, 
• Ii. i. 12. 



OF SACRIFICES. 16$ 

thatsasifices were not offered without the command 
of God. And it is more than probable, that the 
precept and the practice are of equal age ; that these 
holy rites were commanded immediately after the 
re-admission of our first parents into the divine fa. 
vour, upon the back of their apostacy j — that the 
universal custom of sacrificing was received by tra» 
dition from the first man ; — and that, after the true 
design of the institution was lost among the degen- 
erate nations, the ceremony itself was still pre- 
served. 

Well then, the custom was ancient, was divine ; 
and surely it was for some important end God would 
command, and the best of men practise it, for the 
space of four thousand years. What could move 
the eternal Majesty to require, for so long a time, 
that sacrifices should be an essential part of his wor- 
ship? Was there any real excellency in these actions, 
that might render them pleasing to God for their 
own sake ? Were they to be put on an equal or supe- 
rior footing to acts of moral service ? Not at all. 
Himself declares, in the most positive manner, eren 
in the age of sacrifices, that, to offer thanksgiving, 
and pay their vows ; to do justly, and love mercy,* 
were actions far preferable to loading his altar with 
the most costly oblations: — that though men had 
been ever so punctual in this kind of worship, they 
Were not immediately entided to the character of 
saints, whatever course of action they steered in their 

♦ PsaU I 14, andMicab vi. 8. 



164 TYPICAL THINGS. 

other -.deportment towards God, or their fellow* 
creatures. Yea, so far were sacrifices from being 
able to recommend the persons bi wicked sinners to 
God, that, on the contrary, their sins, when reso- 
lutely persisted in, rendered not only their persons, 
but their sacrifices, detestable unto him. He lothed, 
he despised, he abhorred, his soul was weary to 
bear them. That jthey did really atone for ceremo- 
nial guilt, or sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, 
may indeed be allowed; but that they could really 
atone for moral guilt, purge the conscience from 
dead works, or be acceptable to the divine Majesty 
for their own sake, is denied by Scripture, Rea- 
son, and even by the Sacrifices themselves. — It is 
denied by Scripture. — -For, in the prophet Micah, 
rivers of oil, and thousands of rams, are denied to 
be an adequate propitiation. And this needs not be 
wondered at; for what is still more, the first-born, 
we are assured in the same place, would not be ac- 
cepted for transgression, nor the fruit of the body 
for the sin of the soul. — It is denied by Reason. — 
For reason herself being judge, where were the 
justice to punish a harmless beast for the sins of its 
owner? What proportion betwixt the sin of a man, 
and the sufferings of a brute? Can the Majesty of 
Heaven indeed be prevailed upon to lay aside his 
just anger for such a puny satisfaction? Then, Sinai, 
thy thunders are vanished into smoke, and there 
was no occasion to publish, with such solemnity 
and terror, to the trembling Israelites, that fiery law, 



OF SACRIFICES. 165: 

whose curses may be so easily avoided.— But let us 
ask even the sacrifices themselves, they will confess 
their insufficiency to expiate moral guilt ; for there 
were many sins that were not to be purged with sac- 
rifice or offering. Let David bear witness, who 
says to God concerning his complicated crime of 
adultery and deliberate murder, Thou desirest not 
sacrifice, else would I give it : thou delightest not 
in burnt-offering.* Besides, the repetition of these 
sacsrifices is a most invincible proof, that it was not 
in them to make them perfect that offered : for then, 
would they not have ceased to be offered? Surely 
they would; for the worshippers, once purged, 
should have had no more conscience of sin. 

Was it then impossible that the blood of bulls and 
goats should take away sin, notwithstaning the an- 
tiquity and divine original of the custom to offer 
sacrifice? Having removed the false end of their 
institution, let us examine into their real intention, 
and we shall have a particular eye to the offerings 
under the oeconomy of Moses. And here it will not 
be contradicted, though one should affirm, that sun- 
dry circumstances in the law of sacrifices might be 
intended to convey moral instructions. For instance, 
that the brutish qualities of the sacrificed beasts 
might signify the vices or lusts which we ought to 
mortify for the honour of God ; or that the virtuous 
qualities of the victim, suppose meekness, patience, 
and the like, might denote those graces and virtues 

• Psai. li. i*. 



166 TYPICAL THINGS. 

which the worshipper of God should cultivate in his 
own heart. It must not be denied, that the ancient 
ceremonial worship might be a figure of that reason- 
able service, which is ever due to the supreme Being 
in all the diiferent states of the rational creature. 
But though these, and other considerations, may 
have their proper weight and place, we have not yet 
found out the adequate reason of these mysterious 
institutions. In thy bloody death, O Jesus, we see 
the great antitype of these legal oblations! Most 
certainly they were public acknowledgments of guilty 
and professions of faith in the grand propitiation, 
which they believed should appear in the end of the 
world. Tell us, thou sweet singer of Israel, who is 
he that shall do for us what the law could not do I 
In the fortieth psalm, David, speaking not of him- 
self, but of a far more glorious person, has these 
most emphatical words: Sacrifice and offering thou 
didst not desire : burnt-offering and sin-offering 
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come 
to do thy will, O God.* It was not Christ who 
came to imitate the sacrifices, but the sacrifices were 
ordained to prefigure him. They were the shad- 
ow of future good things, but the body is of Christ. 
When Christ was first revealed, the sacrifices seem 
to have been practised; and when he died, they 
ceased to be offered. The temple heard Ms dying 
groan, and rent her vail in presence of the priest- 
hood, as they offered the evening sacrifice, From 
• I'sal. *1. 6. 7- 



OF SACRIFICES. l«r 

this time forth shall your office be vacated, ye legal 
priests ! Ye beasts of the field, no more shall ye 
smoke as victims on God's altar, for the merciful 
High Priest has now given HIMSELF an offering 
and a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savour unto God ! 
Now if, with the prediction of his death they began, 
and ended with the accomplishment, what can be 
more plain than the relation betwixt them, as the 
shadow and substance? Set this relation aside, and 
it is impossible to vindicate, to any advantage, the 
original ^appointment of sacrifices, or to account for 
their abolition after they were injoined. Should 
any be contentious in this point, we have an entire 
book in the canon of the New Testament, in which 
the professed argument is the resemblance of the 
Old Testament sacrifices to the true propitiation. 
Let us here glance at some of the most glaring par- 
allel 3 only, betwixt the sacrifices of Moses and the 
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

And, first, we may take notice of the qualities of 
the sacrificed creatures, especially of the animal 
kind. It was not left as a matter of indifference, 
and wholly in the option of God's peculiar people, 
with what victims they should stain his altars.— 
They behoved to be clean creatures, according to 
the law, fit tote eaten for the support of human life, 
and to be one with the offerer, in some sense, by 
their aptitude for digestion into the substance of his 
body. This was an evideut memorial of the sancti- 
ty of the great Propitiation, and that he should be a 



16S TYPICAL THINGS. 

partaker of the same flesh and blood with those for 
whom he should die ; for it was requisite, that both 
he that santifieth, and they that are sanctified, be all 
of one. — The integrity and perfection which God 
required in the bodies of these beasts may easily be 
accommodated to the glorious Antitype, who would 
been wholly incapacitate, by any the smallest blem- 
ish, from the discharge of his priesdy function. For 
though it became the typical nation of the Jews to 
have a high priest involvedinthe same guilt of actual 
transgression with his brethren, who was therefore 
to offer first for his own sin, before he presumed to 
offer for the errors of the people ; yet such a high 
priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 
and separated from sinners.* i ■ .They were, fur- 
ther, to be valuable and beloved creatures, as lambs 
that are for cloathing, and goats that are the price 
of the field ; and he that offered them was put to 
cost and damage ; as indeed, in the first ages of 
mankind, the riches of the most opulent possessor 
consisted chiefly in flocks and herds. What for- 
bids us to think here of Jesus Christ being the dar» 
ling of his Father, and precious to them that be" 
lieve ? O the invaluable treasure of blood that was 
paid for the redemption of the soul 1 In comparison 
hereof, what is silver and gold, and all corruptible 
things ? Ransack the bowels of the mountains for 
all the glowing gems formed there in dark retire- 
ment, when compared to the precious blood of tho 

* Keb. vii. 20. 



OF SACRIFICES. 169 

Lamb, they are poor and beggarly acquisitions, and 
converted into pebble stones, fit to be trampled un- 
der feet. — Moreover, there behoved to be found, m 
the destined victims, some amiable qualities, resem- 
bling moral virtues. They were not permitted to 
sacrifice the stupid ass, or the sordid swine, though 
tame creatures -, far less were the fierce inhabitants 
of the forest, as wolves, bears, lions, to come up- 
on God's altar. But the sacrifices in which he de- 
lighted, were the gentle dove, the patient and labo- 
rious ox, the meek lamb, and the sheep that is dumb 
before the shearer and the butcher. Who sees not 
in these characters the very picture of the meek, 
lowly, patient, and uncomplaining Saviour of the 
world, who opened not his mouth when he was led 
$s a lamb to the slaughter ? A circumstance ^his, 
which, next to the dignity of his person, did con- 
tribute to the value of his satisfactory death. — It is 
also worthy of notice, that of all these beasts the 
first-born was most acceptable, and, according to 
the law, all such were holy unto the Lord. Was 
not diis a prelude, that he whom God would give 
to expiate our transgression, should be the first-born 
among many brethren, whom they should honour 
as the excellency of dignity, and to whom they 
should owe their deliverance from death, and their 
title to the inheritance ? — I shall only further hint, 
that whereas God was not only pleased, when the 
rich men offered of their larger cattle, but when 
poor men brought turtle-doves and pigeons j might 



IfO TYPICAL THINGS. 

not this put us in mind, how the sacrifice which 
God accepts, is equally accessible to the poor and 
Jie rich ? And truly, as the legal sacrifices were 
chargeable, in less or more to all that presented 
ihem, the real and better sacrifice costs us nothing ; 
for we may buy it without money and without price. 
From the qualities of the victims, let us go on to 
the sacred rites of oblation, and we shall find some- 
thing in our great sacrifice corresponding to them 
aft. When the creature that was to surrender its 
life for its owner was pitched upon, it was brought 
unto the priest, and solemnly sisted before the Lord. 
But our Lord Jesus was not brought by others, like 
the irrational animal, but he voluntarily presented 
himself before the Lord, when his time was fully 
come. Fully apprized of what was to be done unto 
him, he set his face to go up to Jerusalem, and pa- 
tiently expected in the melancholy garden the com- 
of the traitor, and his band of armed men, to 
whom he was to deliver himself. The sacred ani- 
mal being sisted before the Lord, was rendered cer- 
emonially guilty, by the imposition of hands on its 
i$ and by confessing over it the sins of the oliVr- 
er. It was the Lord himself that laid on him the 
iniquities of us all. O Jesus, it is our guilt alone, 
can justify the Judge of all the eanh in taking 
. sure to bruise thee ! And this doubtless was one 
on wh^ r he opened not his mouth, while 
tan governor wondered at his silence. It 
>n that fortified his mind at the 



OF SACRIFICES. in 

approach of his inconceivably bitter agonies, and 
held in his mouth, as with a bridle, when these a- 
stonishing words dropped from his lips, u Now is 
my soul troubled, and what shall I say J"— In the 
next place, the blood of the innocent animal, now 
made guilty by imputation, was shed, was poured 
out, and sprinkled around ; for, without the shed- 
ding of blood was no remission of sin.* Talk not, 
ye Papists, of an unbloody sacrifice of expiation ! 
That is the blood that makes atonement for the scul, 
is asserted by the God of Israel himself, who ex- 
pressly assigns this reason of the strict prohibition 
given to his ancient people, No soul of you shall 
eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourns 
among you.t It is easy to see how this prefigured she 
Violent death of the Son of God, who poured out 
his soul unto death, and whose blood cleanses fiorn 
all sin. The pulling of the skin from the butch- 
ered animals, dividing their bodies, and burning 
them with fire, are certainly intended to denote the 
exquisite torments he was to endure, when the as- 
sembly of the wicked inclosed him, and his heart 
was melted in the midst of his bowels like wax be- 
fore the fire. The towering of the smoke to hea- 
ven, which was sometimes perfumed with burning 
incense, signified how acceptable the sacrifice of 
Christ should be to Gocl, and of what sweet-smel- 
ling savour. In the time of offering, prayers 

were offered up. And we know, that, in die days 
* Heb. ix. 22. \ Lev. xvii. 12. 

p 2 



17V TYPICAL THINCS. 

of his flesh, he offered up prayers, tears, strong 
cries, to him that was able to save him from death. 
The blowing of trumpets, and praising God, in the 
time of the holy rites, with music vocal and instru* 
mental, which was often practised, may no doubt 
put us iii mind of that praise which waiteth for God 
in Zion, on account of purging away our transgress- 
ion by himself, which would have prevailed for ever 
against us, — The carryings the blood of the victims 
into the holy place, the figure of the heavenly sanc- 
tuary, corresponds to the intercession of our High 
Priest within the vail, where he appears as a Lamb 
that has been slain. 

When the holy rites were finished, atonement was 
made. The guilt of the offerer was abolished, 
when his victim was destroyed : the anger of God 
was in some manner appeased, and he gave signs of 
reconciliation. But, as we shewed before,, it was 
not in these ceremonial actions to atone for any 
moral guilt, except in a typical way. But he whom 
God hath set forth for a propitiation, hath, in the 
most proper sense, fully expiated the sins of all his 
people, who have lived, or shall live. In his atone- 
ment the believers of ancient and later times have 
rejoiced, as the sole foundation of their hope. And 
nations yet unborn shall be justified by him, from 
all things from which they could not be justified by 
Moses' law. 

The fire that came down from heaven, and con- 
sumed the sacrifices, which doubtless was kept alire 



OF SACRIFICES. 17 



A 



by the priests upon the altar, was it not an emblem 
of that fierce burning wrath which preyed upon the 
soul of the incarnate Son of God ? Or was it an em- 
blem of the holy Spirit, through whom he offered 
up himself, and who is stiled the Spirit of burning ? 
or else the fire might signify that fervent love to 
God and man, which many waters could not quench. 
It was love that wrought his death ; by this holy 
and pure flame was our astonishing sacrifice reduced 
into ashes. 

The altar, what was it ? His cross, say some. 
Nay, it was rather his divine nature, which like the 
altar supported, and like the altar sanctified, his 
holy humanity, which alone was destroyed. This 
the cross can scarce be said to do, which was but 
the instrument of man's cruelty, and a despicable 
piece of timber, which neither sanctified the body 
which it carried, nor received sanctification from it. 
Where then are they who address it with divine 
honours, and pay even to its picture that homage 
which is due to him alone, that expired in agonies 
on that shameful tree ? 

' IX. The ORDINANCE of the PASSOVER. 

^HE fatal night was now arrived, when the de- 
-*• stroying angel was to smite all the first-born of 
Egypt, and the chief of their strength in the taber- 
nacles of Ham. This last and sorest plague shall 
break the unrelenting heart of Pharoah, and dis- 
miss the oppressed Israelites from his cruel yoke. 

P 3 



174 TYPICAL THINGS. 

Bat mark the goodness of their God, in providing 
for their safety amidst the general devastation ! — 
They are directed to sprinkle on their door-posts the 
blood of a lamb, whose qualities, the manner of its 
death, and the rites wherewith they were to eat its 
flesh, are very minutely prescribed, and left upon 
record for the generations to come. The messen- 
ger of death, they were assured, would not presume 
to enter these hallowed doors, though a thousand 
did fall at their side, and ten thousand on their right 
hand. Then it was that the Egyptian idols did also 
feel the vengeance of the true God : and so memor- 
able was the night, that the month in which it fell, 
was, in all succeeding ages, to be the beginning of 
months, or the first month of the year. A ceremo- 
ny indeed it was that seemed but weak, unmeaning, 
and unprofitable : but, penetrating the outward vail, 
let us try to discern the hidden mystery, by that 
same faith through which Moses kept the passover, 
and the sprinkling of blood, that he, which destroy- 
ed the first-born, should not touch him. Its mean- 
ing we are not now left to explore by our own wit : 
for that it was a prophetical type, and a very expres- ( 
sive image of the Lamb of God that takes away the 
sin of the world, an inspired apostle gives us to 
know, by telling us, that Christ our passover is sa- 
crificed for us.* 

A Lamb was chosen out of the flock. Emblem 
of him iv ho was taken from among men, and raised 

* bit i ;. 



The ORDINANCE of the PASSOVER. tjtf 

up from among his brethren, and, like that lovely- 
creature, did injury to none, though he received 
from many, and is useful in life and death, being 
at once our cloathing and our food. It was a male 
of the flock of a year old ; for Christ is a Son given 
unto us, and suffered in the flower of his age. 
But without blemish and without spot. Though 
descended from an impure race of ancestors, he 
brought no stain of sin unto the world with him. — 
And though he long conversed with sinful men, and 
grappled with strong temptations, he contracted not 
the smallest taint. Even Judas and Pilate attested, 
that he was just and upright ; the last, before he 
condemned, and the first, after he betrayed him.— 
On the tenth day of the month Abib, the Lamb was 
fetched from the field, and on the fourteenth day at 
even it was killed by all the Jews, in the place which 
the Lord did chuse. Even so he, of whom these 
things were spoken, went up to Jerusalem five days 
before the passover, where, with wicked hands, he 

was taken, crucified, and slain. The lamb was 

roasted with fire. It was the fire of the Father's 
wrath, O immaculate Lamb of God ! that forced 
thee to complain, My heart is like wax, it is melt- 
ed in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dri- 
ed like a potsherd : my tongue cleaves to my jaws,* 
A bone of the Lamb was not to be broken, and 
none of it was to be left until the moriuii g* To ac- 
complish the first, the soldiers brake no. his ieg3 r 
* Psal. xxii. 14. 15, 



176 TYPICAL THINGS. 

as was usual ; and to fulfil the last, he was taken 
down from the cross the same evening in which he 

died. In vain had the Israelites killed the lamb, 

if they had not also sprinkled its blood with the hys- 
sop upon the door-posts. And Christ is to us dead 
in vain, unless applied by faith unto the conscience. 
His blood must not be sprinkled behind the door $ 
for we must publicly profess, that we are not asham- 
ed of the cross of Christ : nor below the door ; for 
it must not be trodden under foot : but above, and 
on every side, on all that we are, on all that we 
have, and on all we do. Indeed, by his all-pene- 
trating eye, the doors of the house and heart are 
seen with equal clearness. Had a presumptuous 
Israelite despised this ordinance of God and neg- ' 
lected to sprinkle his doors with blood, he was not 
within the limits of the divine protection ; yea, had 
he ventured abroad in that perilous night, the angel 
was not bound to spare him. So when the arrows 
of destruction are flying thick and fast, the blood of 
Jesus is our only sanctuary, Of this only can we 
say, See, O God our shield :* we are guilty of 
death, this is the sacrifice which thou requirest : ac-' 
cept this blood which we sprinkle by thy command, 
instead of our own that* deserved to reek upon our 
door-posts. O Jesus, we are indebted to thy aton- 
ing blood for blessings that far transcend deliverance 
from Egyptian bondage, or from temporal death* 
By thy blood we are delivered from the wrath that 
* Ps&l. Ixxxiv. 9. 



The ORDINANCE of the PASSOVER. 177 

is to come. Thou art our hiding-place. Under 
this covert of thy blood, we shall not be afraid of 
sudden fear, nor of the desolation of the wicked; 
but shall dwell in peaceable habitations, sure dwel- 
lings, and quiet re sting places, nigh which no plague 
shall come. — — Many a time the haughty tyrant of 
Egypt was frighted by the awful prodigies wrought 
by Moses ; but never w as he thoroughly subdued, 
till the blood was sprinkled. Then the prey was ta- 
ken from the mighty. In vain he pursues after 
them, for never more shall they wear his chain. — 
So many a time the prophecies of Christ might 
fright the black prince of hell, but never was he 
thoroughly subdued, till on the cross he spoiled 
principalities and powers, and made a shew of them 
openly, triumphing over them in it. Even so his 
elect people are said to overcome, by the blood of 
the Lamb, the enemy of their salvation. By this 
same blood the idols are utterly abolished. As in 
that night of desolation, the temples of Egypt were 
not spared more than the palaces ; so in the days of 
the Messiah, shall a man cast his idols of silver and 
gold, which he made for himself to worship to the 
moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the 
rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for 
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his Majesty 
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Well 
may this happy period be unto us the beginning of 
months. If the beginning of the year was changed 
to the Israelites, and the seventh became the first 



1,8 TYPICAL THINGS 

month, much more may the beginning of the week 
be altered to the Christians, and the seventh day be 
exchanged for the first, for a Sabbath unto the Lord ; 
for on dtt* Ci:.y a much mere glorious work was fin- 
even than when he brought Israel out of Egypt, or 
even than when he finished the heave as, and all 
their host, and fetid the foundation of the earthy 

We have seen how the blood of the Lamb was 
sprinkled, and the happy consequences of this sym- 
bolical action ; let us now attend how its flesh was 
to be eaten, and how we are made partakers of 
Christ, who is at ence our shield, to protect us 
from danger* and our food, to preserve our soul 
in life. It was eaten roasted ; for Christ is savou- 
ry to faith. A bone must not be broken ; and mys- 
teries must not be too curiously pryed into. A whole 
lamb must be eaten in every house ; and a whole 
Christ received by every believing soul. It must 
be eaten in haste : and whatsoever our hand findeth, 
should be done with all our might. The bitter 
herbs signified the b'ftterness of contrition for sin, 
and of the tribulation we shall have in this world. — 
Unleavened bread is sincerity and truth. The 
loins girt, and feet shed, signifies the girding up the 
loins of the mind, and the preparation of the gospel 
of peace, or a readiness to every good work. The 
staff in the hand might signify, that here we have no 
continuing city. The passover was only to be eat- 
en by the circumcised and the clean ; but if a man 
was unclean by reason of a dead Body, or in a jour- 



The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE -GO AT, in 

pey afar off, he was permitted to keep a second pass- 
over on the fourteenth day of the second month. — \ 
Here let us end, adoring that condescending love 
that has appeared towards us the sinners of the Gen-. 
tiles. At the first passover, we were uncircumci- 
sed and unclean, by reason of death* ; we were afar 
off, and without God in the world. But us hath he 
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins j 
and in Jesus Christ we, who some time were afar 
pfF, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. There- 
fore let us k^ep the feast ; for even Christ our se- 
cond — rChrist our best passover, is sacrificed for us. 

X. The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GOAT, 

ies injoined in the book of 
L gospel of Moses), none were 

may well presume, and ex- 
pr ggi gelical i^ysteries, than those pre- 

serve \ .mn anniversary of general atone- 

ment, Tfee rites of this solemn day, though in 
themselves but carnal ordinances, were, in their 
use, shadows of good things to come, and, without 
all doubt, expounded in this view unto the people 
by the godly priests, whose lips kept knowledge.— 
To what purpose else had been the multitude of 
their sacrifices unto him, who delights not in the 
blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats ? On 
th : s day the Jewish high priest was not firs: to array 
himself with his most costly attire, but with his lin- 
en garments. An emblem of the Christian High 




MO TYPICAL THINGS. 

Priest's incarnation, who, when he came to expiate 
our sin, did not array himself with light as with a 
garment, but with the robe of our human nature, 
which, though clean and white, was without splen- 
dour or magnificence. On this day he offered ex* 
piatory sacrifices both for himself and all the people. 
Jesus, in all things thou must have the pre-emi- 
nence I For such a High Priest became us, who 
needs not, as these high priests, offer first for his 
own sin, and then for the people : for the law makes 
men priests that had infirmity ; but the word of the 
cath that was since the law, maketh the Son, who 
is consecrated for evermore.* On this day he 
made his solemn entrance into the holy place made 
with hands, with the blood of bulls and goats. The 
meaning of which the great apostle declares, is the 
entrance of Jesus Christ, the High Priest of good 
things to come, by a greater and more perfect taber- 
nacle, into the holy place not made with hands, that 
is, into heaven useif, having obtained eternal re- 
demption for us. 

But what we shall chiefly confine our attention to, 
for the present, is another ceremony peculiar to this 
day of atonement. Besides the bullock and the ram 
which Aar n was to offer, the fnvt for himself, and 
the second for the people ; he was also to take for all 
the congregation of Israel, two kids of the goats for 
a sin-offering. They were to be brought, as usual, 
to the door of he tabernacle, of the congregation* 

• Hcb. vii. 26, 27. 



The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GGAT. 181 

But both were not killed as was usually done : for 
by an uncommon rite, the two victims were pitched 
upon by lot, the one to be offered up in the accus- 
tomed manner untg the Lord, and its skin, its flesh, 
and dung, to be burned with fire without the camp ; 
the other to be presented alive before the Lord, 
where Aaron, laying both his hands upon its head, 
confessed over him all the iniquities of the children 
of Israel,and all their transgressions in all their sins j 
and,lastly,it was to be conducted inco the wilderness 
by the hand of aproper person, (who, they say^iught; 
be either a Gentile or an Israelite) ; and probably it 
was never more inquired after ; wherefore it might 
be called Azazel, or the scape -go at. ——We shall, 
for the present, leave to others the discussion of 
some curious inquiries about the name and fate of 
this devoted creature, and proceed to notice how in 
both these victims Christ was set forth as the propi- 
tiation for our sins. 

It is true indeed, that the goat is none of these 
creatures that are supposed to have the most amia- 
ble properties. And it may seem odd, that the 
Lamb of God should be prefigured by these beasts, 
which, for their uncleanly and unruly temper, are 
emblems of the wicked, who, in the last day, shall 
be separated from the godly by the Judge of all the 
earth. But perhaps even this circumstance in the 
type might signify, that Christ was to appear in the 
likeness of sinful flesh. The goat, though com- 
monly held an unclean creature, was, notwithstancU 



182 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ing, of the number of clean beasts in the law of 
Moses ; and Jesus Christ, though reputed a sinner 
among men, was pure and righteous in the eye of 
God. And if it be true what is commonly reported 
of the medicinal qualities of this creature's flesh, 
and of its blood softening the rigid adamant ; what 
hinders us to think of Christ healing our diseases, 
taking away our hard and stony hearts, and giving 
us hearts of flesh ? 

But wherefore two goats ? Or, if two, why not 
* both used in the same manner? Why was one of 
them put to death, and the other saved alive? — 
Doubtless they are both to be viewed as types of the 
great propitiation. The first goat may signify that 
complete satisfaction which Christ made to vindic- 
tive justice by the offering up himself ; and the se- 
cond goat may signify the happy consequence of 
this propitiatory sacrifice, in finishing transgression, 
making an end of sin, and carrying it, as it were, 
into the land of forge tfulness ; that, to use the ele- 
git words of Jeremiah, when the iniquity of the 
house of Israel shall be sought for, there should be 
none; and the sins of Judah, and they should not 
be found.* Nor ought it seem strange, that such a 
momentous truth should be inculcated so many va- 
rious ways on the same occasion : for it is a singular 
effect of the goodness of God, to exhibit such inter- 
ing truths in different views, that we may have 
rtrong consolation. Besides that, all similitudes 

* Jer. !. JkO. 



the ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GOAT. 1SS 

and types fall infinitely short of the great mysteries 
they point at, therefore they are multiplied, that 
they may mutually supply the de Sciences of one a- 
nother : for here the saying is made good, -" Two 
are better than one ; for if they fall, the one will lift 
up his fellow.'* 

That the first goat was an emblem of Christ sa- 
crificed for us, as much as any other sacrifices, is 
not difficult to persuade. For, like other sacrifices, 
it was killed, because Christ was to die. Its blood 
was carried within the vail ; for Christ was to ap- 
pear in the presence of God for us with his own 
blood. Its bodv was burned without the camp • 
and Christ suffered without the gate. But let us 
more particularly attend the mystery of the scape- 
goat, and its likeness to Jesus Christ. 

It was, like the other, to be taken from the ccn. 
gregation of Israel, and doubtless purchased with 
the public money. So Christ was taken from among 
his brethren, and bought, in some sense, for thirty 
pieces of silver out of the public treasury, that he 
might be numbered with transgressors, and bear 
the sins of many. 

It was, like the other, presented at the door of 
the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord 
and all the people. So Christ presented himself to 
do his heavenly Father's will before bolh God and 
the people, when at the passover- solemnity he went 
up to Jerusa!em,not ignorant of what was to be done 
unto him by Jews and Gentiles. 

0.2 



VPICAL THINGS. 

It was, as the other, chosen by let, which, though 
east into the lap, is not fortuitous or accidental, for 
the disposing is of the Lord. So Jesus Christ was 
destinated in the eternal counsels to bear the ini- 
quities of his people. He was delivered into his 
enemies ..: ads by the determinate counsel of God ; 
&d by this same counsel, was determined before to 
be done whatever happened unto him! Hence it 
was that Pilate was deaf to the remonstrances of his 
own conscience, in condemning him that was most 
just ; and HS&bte the people of the Jews preferred a 
murderer* to the Lord of life, when they desired 
that Earabbas should be released, and Christ 
should be crucified. 

The sacred animal, being thus pre ho- 

sen of ( \ the high priest was to lay both his 

ads on its head, devoting it, by this action, to 
the service of God, and translating die sins of Isra- 
el upon it in a typical manner. Perhaps it might 
signify, that the hand of vindictive justice was to 
lie heavy on the Surety of sinners ; and it is express- 
ly aHIrmcd by the prophet, The Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all.* 

That this was the meaning of the rite, appears 
more evidentlv from the following one. For in 
this posture did the high priest confess ail the sins 
of his people from whom the goat was taken. Why 
should their sins be confessed in this manner, if it 
v as not to signify, that they were in some sort laid 

• Isa. liii. 6, 



The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GOAT. 185 

upon the head of the innocent victim ? It was thus 
the great Doer of God's will was made sin for us, 
who knew no sin. The goat could not be guilty of 
these sins, for it was a brute beast. Nor could its 
Antitype be himself a transgressor of the law, for 
he was a divine person. Yet both the one and the 
other did bear the sins of many, to which it was, in 
the nature of things, impossible they could be acces- 
sary in the smallest degree. It was not thy sin, O 
spotless Victim, but the sins of thy elect people, that 
consigned thee over to the bloody and shameful 
cross ! These were the sins which took hold upon 
thee, and justified thy death. Surely, surely, he 
bore our griefs, he carried our sorrows, and the 
chastisement of our peace was upon him. # How 
else could his heavenly Father been pieasedto bruise 
him, for whom it is no more good to punish the 
just, than to clear the guilty ? 

The devoted creature, thus laden with sin, is, by 
the hand of a proper person, conducted into the wil- 
derness. Why should not this wilderness be view- 
ed as an emblem of these afflictions to which the 
Surety was exposed by the sins he was charged 
with ? Or shall we say, it might be a faint intima- 
tion, that the blessing of atonement should be ex- 
tended to the world of Gentile sinners, which, in 
the stile of the prophet, is called the wilderness of 
the people ? Or rather the meaning may be, that, as 
the mystic goat was never more looked after, or 

* Isa. liii. 4, 

R3 



ISC TYPICAL THINGS. 

h?ard of, { for probably it would soon perish, if not 
hy hunger, at least by wild beasts) j so Jesus Christ, 
by his atoning blood, would take away the sin of 
the worLI, fetid remove from them all the iniquities 
.3 elecl people, as far as the east is distant from 
the west. O condemning law, you have nothing to 
lay to their charge, for Christ is dead 1 therefore it 
is God thatjustineth, and their sins and iniquities 
will be remembered no more. 

What thanks shall be rendered to that gracious 
Redeemer, who was manifested to restore that glo- 
ry to God which he took not away, and to take away 
that sin of man which he did not introduce ? Be it 
so^ there are, alas! too many to whom this all-im- 
portant truth is of small account, (for some deride, 
and more despise it) ; yet to the weary soul, to the 
conscience burdened with guilt, it is grateful and 
delicious, as the full flowing stream to the hunted 

hart. The In. r-; soul to whom the doctrine of 

i i j 

atonement is manifested, he hears, upon the matter, 
voice of the great JEHOVAH speaking to him 
in such ravishing accents ; " I have made thine ini- 
quity to pass from thee ;" or, in the words of Na- 
than to the penitent king David, The Lord hath ta- 
ken away thy sin ; thou shaltnot die .* Who would 
not be constrained, by this love, to put away the 
evil of their doings from before his eyes, who hath 
ay the guilt of them from before his- face ? 
Draw near all ye whose consciences are burdened 

• 8 Sam. xii. 13. 



The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GOAT. 187 

with the intolerable pressure of a thousand aggrava- 
ted iniquities, who are ready to cry, Mine iniqui- 
ties are gone over my head, they are a burden too 
heavy to bear,* While some, with Cain, go from 
the presence of the Lord, and drown their dismal 
thoughts in the delights of sense, or else in the whirl 
of business — whilst others have no ground of com- 
fort but the general and unatoned mercy of God — 
whilst a third sort derive comfort to their troubled 
hearts from their own imperfect righteousness, 
their tears of repentance, their sorrow for what is 
past, and their resolutions to do better for the fu- 
ture ; confess your iniquities over the head of the 
New-Testament Scape-goat ; for he who thus con- 
fesseth and forsaketh, shall nnd mercy.t Thus 
runs the gracious promise of the holy One of Israel, 
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify 
many : for he shall bear their iniquities. J But he 
that despises this way of peace, shall bear his own 
burden, whatsoever he be. 

XL The ORDINANCE of the RED HEIFER. 

TT AVING seen the mystery of the lamb that was 
■*■ -*■ slain, and the goat that was sent away, we 
come next to the red heifer, whose ashes sprinkling 
the unclean, did sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, 
when defiled, by touching corpses, graves, and 
dead mens bones : and we shall see how it signified 
the sprinkling of Christ's blood upon our souls, to 
* Psal. xxxviii, 4. f ? r °v- xxviii, 13* % Is. liii. lb. 



188 TYPICAL THINGS. 

purge our conscience from dead works, to serve 
the living God. 

It was an ordinance which God was pleased to in- 
join in a very punctual manner : for the Lord spake 
unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying. This is the 
ordinance of the law which the Lord hath command- 
ed, * Indeed, what but the authority of God could 
have reconciled the minds of the ancient church to 
such a burdensome yoke of ceremonies ? Therefore 
the Hebrew lawgiver takes such particular care to 
inculcate every where, that he delivered no laws 
unto them which he received not from the Lord. — 
No wonder that the whole system of ceremonial 
worship was purely founded on the sovereign plea- 
sure of God, when it was intended to shadow forth 
that adorable plan of redemption which arises from 
the same source, and is stiled in the New-Testa- 
ment the mystery of his will. It is this that imparts 
a venerable air to all those rites, w r hich, had they 
been of human institution alone, would have merit- 
ed contempt and ridicule. Let us, for one proof 
of this, observe the qualities, the sufferings, and 
the use of this heifer. These we shall see are ca- 
pable of being fairly applied to Jesus Christ, who 
gave himself for us, that he might purify us unto 
himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

What then were the qualities required in this 
victim ? It was a heifer. Perhaps to intimate, that 
in Christ Jesus, there is neither male nor female ; 

* Num. xix. 2, 



The ORDINANCE of the RED HEIFER. 189 

or to signify, that he would assume our nature, not 
in its strongest state of innocence, but in its enfee- 
bled state of sin and misery ; for he was made in 
the likeness of sinful flesh, and compassed with in- 
firm itv. * It was a red heifer. The reason of this 
(say the Jews) was hid from Solomon himself, but 
is not perhaps altogether concealed from the mean- 
est believer, who knows that his Saviour came from 
Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ; or that 
he is clothed with a vesture dipt in blood. Red is 
a colour of beauty ; and he is fairer than the chil- 
dren of men. Red is a colour of strength ; and he 
is the One that is mighty. Red is the colour of 
wilt : and he took the scarlet and crimson coloured 
rpbes of our imputed ^m$ that ha might clothe us 
- robes of his imputed righteousness, whiter 
than wool, purer than snow. It was a hoif^r vrl.li-- 
out 8] rd blemish. Indeed this was required m 

every victim ; and in Christ the holy One of God 
it was fulfilled. An unatoned God accepts nothing 
less than the most absolute perfection; an unaton- 
ed God was he with whom our Saviour had to do. 
It is therefore easy to see, that any the smallest spot 
would have entirely disqualified him from approach- 
ing unto God in an acceptable manner, it was a 
heifer on which never came yoke. As man, he ne- 
ver came under the yoke of sin ; and as God, he 
wais not under the yoke of duty, that is, he was not 
obliged to obey the law. If he paid tribute to the 
temple, he was not obliged to do so. (For even the 



190 TYPICAL THINGS. 

kings of the earth hold their own children free from 
paying taxes). But lest he should offend them who 
were ignorant of his true character, he pavs the tri- 
bute, not with money out of his private pocket, but, 
to shew that he was Lord of all, with money he 
commanded a fish to bring from the bottom of the 
sea. If he appeared in the form of a servant, it 
was wholly owing to his voluntary condescension. 
It he expires in agonies on a cross, it is not because 
his life is violently taken away by the hands of sin- 
ful men, but because he laid it down of himself. — 
Therefore does his Father love him; therefore is 
his obedience and death strictly meritorious ; and 
because he has done more than was his duty to do, 
he is not an unprofitable servant. 

"When a heifer was found in which these qualities 
did meet, what was to be done unto her ? First of 
all, she is brought to Eleazar the priest. Here in- 
deed the type is defective ; for our high priest and 
sacrifice are the same. Next she is brought with- 
out the camp ; forChrist suffered without the gate. 
She was killed before his eyes. So Christ was cru- 
cified and slain :n the most public manner. Her 
flesh, and skin, and blood, were burned in fire, to- 
gether with her dung. So Christ suffered in the 
whole man ; and when he endured the wrath of 
God, which is often compared t fire, they cast up- 
on him the dung of the most virulent reproaches. 
But what shall we say to the cedar wood, the scar- 
let cloth, and the hyssop, that were thrown also in- 



The ORDINANCE of the RED HEIFER. 191 

to the burning ? Perhaps it never was intended by 
the Holy Ghost, that every minute circumstance in 
that ritual worship should have a separate meaning 
affixed to it. Many usuages were, doubtless, to be 
practised in the ancient dispensation, with no other 
view than to testify their absolute submission to the 
divine will. What if we should say, that as the ce- 
dar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, were the 
materials of which they made the sprinkler, but 
first these very things must be thrown into the fire ; 
so the means and ordinances by which the clean wa- 
ter of Christ's blood is sprinkled on our souls, are 
themselves first sanctified by his sufferings. Or the 
scarlet cloth might denote the guilt of sin, which 
was the cause of his death. The hyssop might sig- 
nify the necessity of its being applied unto the con- 
science, or of the sprinkling the blood of Jesus up- 
on our hearts. And the cedar wood, which is du- 
rable and fragrant, might adumbrate the sweet sa- 
vour of his sufferings, and the perpetual efficacy of 
his atoning blood. 

But when the heifer was thus reduced to ashes,are 
they suffered to lie and rot with the common earth,or 
to be scattered by the winds ? No,they were carefully 
to be gathered up by a clean person,and deposited in a 
clean place without the cam*>,wherethey are to be kept, 
in order to make with them a purifying water to sprin- 
kle the unclean. Who would have thought the ashes of 
a burned heifer worthy such regard, had he judged 
only by outward appearance ? But, though seeming- 



192 TYPICAL THINGS 

ly vile, they were really precious by the divine or- 
dinance. Even so the death and crucifixion of the 
dying Redeemer, though in appearance an event 
worthy of small regard, was in reality the most 
memorable transaction that ever the sun beheld. — 
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his 
saints:* how much more the death . of his beloved 
San ? His blood, though trodden under foot by 
many, and by many esteemed as water spilt on the 
ground, is notwithstanding the price of our redemp- 
tion, and infinitely more valuable than gold and sil- 
ver, and all corruptible things. The clean place 

where the ashes were deposited, was it an emblem 
of the church, where alone the sacred treasure of 
his blood is dispensed ? It was without the camp. 
Perhaps to intimate, that those who were without 
the commonwealth of Israel, should partake of the 
cleansing* afficacy of Christ's blood; and that God 
would put no difference betwixt them and his an- 
cient people, purifying their hearts by faith. 'Or 
shall we say, that as the precious relicts were to be 
laid in a clean place ; so the mystery <rf faith in his 

blood can only be held in a pure conscience ? 

The ashes thus preserved were fit for use upon eve- 
rv occasion, as long as they lasted ; whereas the 
blood of common sacrifices soon congealed, and 

; unfit to be sprinkled when it grew cold. Was 
not this a significant emblem of the everlasting fit- 

s of Christ's blood to purge the guilty conscie; 

* Fsftk cxvi. I£. 



The ORDINANCE of the SCAPE-GOAT, in 

For it is no less capable of being sprinkled now, than 
the moment it was shed, being always warm, al- 
ways new and living blood. Let us consider, in 
few words, the occasion for keeping these purifying 
ashes, the manner of preparing them, the rite by 
which they were sprinkled, and the danger of neg- 
lecting it. 

The occasion for the ashes, was the uncleannes* 
of the Israelites, or strangers that sojourned among 
them, by reason of the necessary and voluntary, or 
involuntary and accidental touch of dead corpses, 
bones, and graves* The touch of these defiled them 
legally, and debarred them from access to the sanc- 
tuary of God. But our defilements now arise not 
from dead corpses, but from dead works, the sins 
we daily commit. Wretched men that wc are, who 
shall deliver us from this body of death.* Yea, 
what else are the best duties we can perform but 
dead works, if God should entei into judgment? 
Even these need to be burr led out ci our sight, and 
covered from the view of impartial justice with the 
covering of Immanuel 1 s righteousness. And till we 
are purged from these, we caiuiot serve the living 
Gcd. 

The manner of preparing these holy ashes, was 
by mixing them with running water in a vessel. Ait 
emblem of that divine Spirit which they that believe 
on Christ shall infallibly receive, by whose invisible, 
but powerful operation, the blood of Christ is made 

* Rom. rii. *4» 

R 



194 TYPICAL THINGS 

effectual to purify our hearts. As the ashes were 
mixed with the water in this typical ordinance, so 
the blood and Spirit of Christ are undivided in their 
working : for they that are justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, are washed in the same name by 
the Spirit of our God ; and from them whom he 
sprinkles with clean water, he takes away the hard 
and stony he ait. 

The rite of sprinkling was in this manner. On 
the third day, and on the seventh day, after the pol- 
luti n was contracted, a clean person, dipping a 
bunch of hyssop in the purifying liquor, was to 
sprinkle the unclean. And on the evening of the 
seventh day, but not before, he was perfectly clean- 
sed. Let the clean person be an emblem of the 
ministers of the gospel, who have the precious trea- 
sure of Christ's purifyingblood and Spirit as it were 
in earthen vessels. These ought (at least) to be 
clean persons, and an example in purity to the be- 
lievers amongwhom they minister. Let the bunch 
of hyssop represent the ordinances of the gospel, or 
faith, both which are the applying means. The 
third day was the time of the first sprinkling. We 
may here take occasion to think, that on the third 
Chirst rose again from the dead : and here in. 
cleed began our purging from guilt, for he was rais- 
ed for our justification. On the seventh day, the 
last of a weekly revolution, the purification was 
mpletc on the evening. Nor will we be per- 
used from the inherence of moral stains 



The ORDINANCE of the RED HEIFER. 195 

till the evening of death, and the commencement of 
the eternal Sabbath. Thus shall he sprinkle, not a 
small number of Israelites, but many nations ; not 
merely from the impurities of the flesh, but from 
the pollutions of the conscience. Though we are 
defiled not only with smaller transgressions, but 
with the most deadly and abominable iniquities ; or^ 
to ust the Old-Testament phrases, tho' we have not 
only touched, but remained among the graves, and 
lodged in the monuments ; yet if we come to Jesus, 
the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood 
of sprinkling, we shall be clean through the word 
that he has spoken unto us. 

The danger of neglecting this ordinance was n<2 
less than excision from the congregation of the Lord. 
So shall they perish as the vilest part of the creation, 
who say they are not polluted, when the judgment 
of unerring wisdom about all the children of men 5 
is, They are altogether become filthy :* or who, 
turning away disdainful from the fountain opened 
for sin and for uncleanness think to wash out their 
stains by the nitre and soap of their own endeav- 
ours ; for God shall plunge them into the ditch, and 
their own cloaths shall abhor them, t 

One other circumstance deserves to be noticed 
before we leave this subject. The very same water 
that sanctified the unclean, denied the man who 
touched or sprinkled it, though he was clean before. 
Perhaps this might denote the imperfection of these 

* Psal. liii> 3. f Job. ix. 31. 

R 2 



196 TYPICAL THINGS. 

shadows, which never could make them perfect by 
whom they were used ; or it might intimate, that 
the virtue of divine institutions depends not on the 
person that ministers about them. Or shall wc say, 
that faith in Christ's blood, like this consecrated 
water, defiles them that are clean, by discovering 
more of their natural pollution ; and cleanses tllem 
that are denied, by sprinkling their hearts from an 
evil conscience ? But it is certain, the effects of thi3 
water were not more contrary,, than these of Christ 
himself, as preached in the gospel, who is to some 
the savour of life, and to others the savour of death* 

XII. The ORDINANCE of the Year of JUBILE. 

THE institution of the jubile was none of the 
leant remarkable regulations in the common- 
wealth of Israel, and deserves our special attention. 
Besides the rest which the land enjoyed every sev- 
enth, it was ordained to rest also every fiftieth year. 
The husbandman was forbid to subdue hrs field with 
the plough, or to scatter his seed in the furrows. — 
What the earth spontaneously produced, whether 
corn or vines, might be indifferently used by all, 
and was the special property of the poor inhabitants 
of the land. The God who commanded this, was 
fully able to compensate the want of harvest and vin- 
tage, by crowning the year preceding with uncom- 
mon plenty. But besides the intermission of ser- 
vile labour in this extraordinary year, it was the 
will of God, that by its welcome approach, the poor 



The ORDINANCE cf the Year of JUBILE. 197 

Israelite should reap great advantages, and enjoy 
very valuable immunities. The insolvent debtor 
was delivered from his creditor. The hired ser- 
vant regained his former liberty, and inheritances 
reverted to the families to which they originally be- 
longed. The joyful sound of trumpets announced 
the commencement of this year of liberty ; and they 
were blown on the day of atonement, when they 
were fasting for their sins, and afflicting their souls. 
This was the fast which the Lord did chuse, to un- 
do heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free. In 
short, it was a time of the restitution of ail things in 
the commonwealth, and a remedy against the ca- 
price of fortune, or rather the inequalities which so- 
vereign providence introduces among men as to 
their outward state. 

Several things might be suggested, to evince the 
propriety of this regulation, viewed in a civil as well 
as a religious light. It was admirably well calculat- 
ed to promote brotherly love ; to prevent the ruin 
of families, whether by avarice or prodigality ; to 
preserve the distinction of tribes, till Messias should 
come ; and to impress djpon their hearts a sense of 
their absolute dependence upon God, as their great 
landlord, whose property the land was, and with 
whom they were strangers and sojourners: there- 
fore it was to be sold only for a time, and not for 
ever. 

But let us raise our thoughts still higher to the 

year of grace and day ©f salvation, wherein far 

R 3 



298 TYPICAL THINGS. 

greater immunities are proclaimed to the human 
race, than were announced to the Israelites by the 
trumpet of the jubile. Detesting the impious imi- 
tation of this sacred ordinance in the pretended ju- 
bile of Rome, let us take occasion to meditate on 
that happy season, which, in allusion to this very 
thing, is stiled by the prophet, the year of God's re- 
deemed, and the acceptable year of th^ Lord. Joy- 
ful was the sound of liberty to the poor Israelite who 
was drowned in debt, for which he was obliged to 
part with his beloved freedom, and to sell the inher- 
itance of his fathers. But more joyful is the sound 
of liberty to the wretched sinner, who is deep in ar- 
rears to the divine justice,,a miserable captive of ski 
and wrath, and utterly deprived of all inheritance in 
the heavenly kingdom. O blessed are the people 
that know this joyful sound 1 they shall walk, O 
Lord, in the brightness of thy countenance. In thy 
name shall they rejoice all the day ; and in thy righ- 
teousness shall they be exalted!* But a more parti- 
cular attention to what Moses informs us about this 
grand festival, will discover unto us the resemblance 
betwixt the trumpet of the Jubile, and the trumpet 
of the gospel, whose sound, far from being confin- 
ed to Judea alone, is gone through all the earth, of 
which die prophet Esaias, rapt into future times, 
titters that glorious prophecy, which has received its. 
accomplishment in the days of the Messiah : And it 
fchall come to pass, that the great trumpet shall be 



The ORDINANCE of the Year of JUBILE. 19» 

blown, and they shall come which were ready to per- 
ish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the. 
land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the 
holy mount at Jerusalem.* 

The time when this glad signal was given by the 
solemn sound of trumpets, was the tenth day of the 
seventh month, or the day of atonement ; a day 
wherein the future expiation of the Messiah was 
clearly exhibited, in the goat that was slain, and in 
the goat that was sent away, and in other ceremo* 
nies truly significant and expressive* A circum- 
stance this greatly to be observed* Who sees not 
here, that our jubiie begins, in the atonement of Je- 
sus Christ, as theirs began in the day in which it 
was prefigured J The trumpet that was not sounded 
on this day, was some other than the jubile-trum.- 
pet ; and the sermon that is not built onthe doctrine 
of atonement, is something different from the gos- 
pel, O Jesus, were it not for thy bloody death, thy 
glorious resurrection, and still more glorious ascen- 
sion, our ears had never heard the guspeUtrumpetV 
joyful sound, nor of the gifts which thou received 
for men, far surpassing, the gifts and immunities of 
this gladsome year 1. 

The intermission of toil and labour, in this Sab- 
batical year, wherein the .land w as not tilled, and the 
common property which every one had in the spon- 
taneous productions of the earth, may be considered 
as an* emblem of that blessed rest which is proclaim^ 
* Is. xxvii. 13; 



200 TYPICAL THINGS. 

edin the gospel of Jesus Christ,from the works of the 
law & of the flesh,& from anxious carkingcares about 
the good things of this present life. He that feeds 
the ravens without their labour, and clothes the lilies 
without their toil, will certainly with-hold no neces- 
sary things from the objects of his choice regard* 
The joyful sound forbids you to ask with painful 
anxiety, What shall we eat ? what shall we drink ? 
and wherewith shall we be cloathed . ?# Leave him 
who knows your wants to answer these perplexing 
questions. Be careful for nothing,! is a chearfui 
note sent from the gospel trumpet. Hear it, ye 
happy people, who know the joyful sound, and turn 
your timorous cares into believing confidence ! 

The cancelling of debts at this happy season, may 
well be viewed as an emblem of the forgiveness of 
sin, or that dreadful debt of punishment, which ail 
the human race owe to eternal justice, the most in- 
exorable of all creditors. This debt we are born 
under, and are every day contracting more. It is 
marked every farthing in the book of God's remem- 
brance, and the time of final reckoning is hasting a- 
pace. Miserable they whom that awful day shall 
find without a Surety. How can we discharge it, who 
are not able so much as to number it? But these 
are the charming accents of the gospel-jubile, I y 
even I am he that blotteth out your sins. J Dismiss 
your fears, ye poor insolvent debtors; for there is 
forgiveness with your great Creditor, and for the 

• Matth, yi-iix | Philip, iv. 6, \ ha. xliii. 25. 



The ORDINANCE of the Year of JUBILE. 201 

sake of his dear Son, he will not enter into judg- 
ment with you. 

The release of servants, and delivering from bon- 
dage, is another joyful sound of the acceptable year 
of the Lord: a privilege so much more glorious than 
the liberty cf the Israelites, as the slavery from which 
we are redeemed is more miserable than the service 
to which they bound themselves. The gospel is a 
joyful sound of liberty from the bondage of God's 
wrath, which we are taught to dread no more with 
servile fear, but with a filial reverence ; — from the 
bondage of Satan's tyranny, that we may no more 
be led captive at the will and pleasure of that wicked 
spirit; — from the fear of death, which has subjected 
many to bondage ail the days of their life. It is a 
sound of freedom from the law, not indeed as it i& 
a rule of life, (for the obligations to all sorts of re- 
ligious and civil duties is strongly corroborated by 
the gospel,} but as it is a covenant of works. A se- 
vere and rigorous master indeed I which accepts no 
work, if it is not absolutely perfect ; which never re* 
admits into favour, those who, in the smallest in- 
stance, have incurred its displeasure, though they 
should never be so solicitous to do all in their power 
to please it. Eternal death is the smallest punish* 
xnent it will be satisfied to inflict, and obedience ab- 
solutely perfect die only condition of acceptance* 
They who are under the dominionof this rigid Lord, 
(and such are all the race of Adam before the gospel 
QQmes,) can never hope to attain everlasting life, or 



202 TYPICAL THINGS. 

escape everlasting death ; for one sin, though ever 
so small, will do them more harm, xhan all their du- 
ties, how many soever, can do them good. But 
we must not forget to mention how the gospel is a 
joyful sound of liberty and freedom from the domi- 
neering power of sin, and the lusts cf our hearts, 
which, though divers, and often contrary, demand 
full homage, and perfect gratification. Betwixt the 
bondage of the law, and the bondage of sin, there 
is a most indissoluble relation,though oYie would not 
think so at first view. But the great apostle express- 
ly affirms, that the strength of sin is the lav/ ;* and 
makes our not being under the law, but under grace, 
a reason why sin should not have the dominion over 
us.t Be it so, that serving divers lusts and pleasures 
is not esteemed by many as an intolerable thraldom, 
but, on the contrary, they think it a state of liberty 
to the servants of corruption. They are not the on- 
ly madmen who glory in their chains, mistaking 
them for real ornaments. A most unquestionable 
judge of human nature has taught us, that he who 
commits sin, is the servant of sin.$ A saint of the 
first magnitude affirms, that to seek God's precepts, 
is to walk at liberty.;) And who has not heard the 
dismal groans of the blessed apostle, which the body 
of sin and death extorted from the bottom of his 
heart r§ O sin, what an imperious lord art thou ! 
and thy service of all others the most ignominious, 

■ i Cor. xv 56 f Ro.ri. y\. U- \ John vii. 3*. 
I Psal. cx'.x. 45 § ftott- vii. 24* 



The ORDINANCE of the Year of JUBILE. 203 

the most laborious, and the the most unprofitable ; 
for the wages of sin is death.* But the go ^pel-trum- 
pet says to the prisoners, Go forth ; and &o them 
in darkness, Shew yourselves. t and when they 
know the truth, the truth shall make them free. 

The reversion of inheritances is the last thing we 
shall notice. We lost our inheritance by the first 
moral transgression, and we are every day resign- 
ing more and more our claim to the divine Suk 
for the transitory pleasures of sin. We have sold 
for nought the invaluable treasure s ®j fey; and 

are by no means able to redeem whvi m 
foolishly foregone. But these are the glad fadings of 
the everlasting gespti. in jesus Chnst, O ye chil- 
dren of men, you may obtain an inheritance infinite- 
ly more valuable than what returned to an Israelite 
at the year of liberty ; an inheritance of exceeding 
glorious riches, incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
fadeih not away, reserved in heaven for you. The 
blood of Christ is the price thai bought it , the Spirit 
is the earnest that secures it. And when the Re- 
deemer comes again, they shall perfectly enjoy the 
purchased possession : for the Lord knows the days 
of the righteous, and their inheritance endureth for 
ever.;*; 

Kappy they who hear by faith the trumpet of the 
gospel jubile, in this accepted time ; who look into 
the perfect law of liberty, and continue therein ! 
In the decisive hour of judgment, the trump of God 

* Rom. vi, 23. f Isa. xlix. 9. \ Psal. xxxvii. 18 



204 TYPICAL THINGS, 

itself shall pot affright; and even in this prcset\t 
state, they shall be brought into the glorious liber- 
ty of the sons of God ; they shall lead them captive 
whose captives they were, and rule over their op*, 
pressors.. 

XIII. THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 

THE law of the Leper, which is delivered by the 
Hebrew lawgiver with considerable prolixity, 
is indeed a proportion of sacred writ we are apt to 
skim over with heedless glance, supposing that very 
little instruction can be derived from such antiquated 
usages, as were to be observed about the discovery, 
the separation, and the cleansing of their infected 
Israelite. One is apt to wonder atthe distemper it- 
self, which infected not only the bodies of men, 
but their garments and houses ; and to be no less 
surprised ; that the heavenly Majesty should conde- 
s : . nd c g T e s ; \ c h m i nute di recti ons about th e sy mp- 
tomo of the leprosy, and the manner of cleansing. 
But v/heu we consider that every thing almost about 
the typical na- ion was figurative, their diseases not 
excepted, perhaps we may ceas.* to wonder, and 
Willingly ac4nowledge,that here, as in other ancient 
rites, the body is ol Christ, 

It was a cutaneous distemper, well kn iwn to the 
Jews, and, as they say, to other nations in those 
parts of the world. Though in itself was only a 
natural evil, it w^ however, inflicted uitentimCE 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 205 

fay the immediate hand of the Lord, as the punish- 
mentof sin, as in the case of Miriam, Gthazi, and 
king Uzziah. That it was always an indication of 
any flagrant guilt, we will not presume to say, But 
the unhappy patient, who was seized with that hate- 
ful malady, was, by the divine law, excluded from 
the cheeriul society of men, and from access to the 
tabernacle of God, till it should please God to re- 
cover him, or at least till the symptoms of recovery 
were perceived by the priest by whom the sentence 
was pronounced. But let us take a more exact view 
both of the disease, and the manner of its purgation. 
Was the Almighty displeased with the leprosy ? 
was his indignation against the poor leper ? Nay, 
he dispises no man for the a Miction of his body, 

howeverlothsome. A Lazarus covered with sores 

• 

and a Job with boils, are the objects of his special 
love; while the most wealthy sinner that wears the 
finest purple, is a vile person in his eyes. Sin is 
that lpthsome disease, and the sinner, that abomi- 
nable leper, here described. Behold, I am vile, I 
am a man of unclean lips, I abhor myself* is the 
language of the convinced soul. An infant wallow- 
ing in the blood of its nativity, and a sow Wallowing 
in the mire, a dog returning to his vomit, and a se- 
pulchre exhaling the stench of a putrifying carcase, 
are not greater nuisances to the sense, than the soul 
that lies in sin, to the pure eyes of God. Sin is that 
abhorred leprosy which spreads its dire contageon. 

• Job. xl, 4. and ac-lii. 6. Is. vi. 5. 

s 



*09 TYPICAL THINGS. 

far and wide, infecting all the duties which the sin* 
ner can perform, and all the comforts that he tastes . 
for to him that is defiled and unbelieving, is nothing 
pure.* Beware how you approach the society of 
the wicked, a thousand times more infectious than 
the company of the filthiest leper. O my soul, be 
not united to their assembly that are the workers of 
iniquity, if thou wouldst keep the commandment of 
thy God ! He diat was infected with the typical lep- 
rosy, was not only in danger of defiling those with 
whom he conversed,but the very garments he wore, 
and the house in which he dwelt. But sin has sub- 
jected all creatures to the bondage of corruption. — 
Therefore it is revealed, the elements shall melt 
with fervent heat, and all these things shall be dis- 
solved ;t as the infected garment was burned with 
fire, and the infected house demolished from its ve- 
ry foundation. The leper under the law was exclu- 
ded from the society of men ; and when the distem- 
per came to a great height, or infected the head, he 
was to use the signals of deepest mourning ; his 
cloathd were to be rent, his head bare, and a cov- 
g upon his upper lip, and as he went, he was to 
pry, Unclean! unclean'. But the leprosy of sin ex- 
miserable soul from all intercourse with 
Cod, communion with angels, fellowship with Je- 
ith the spirits of just men, and access 
to the heavenly Jerusalem, where nothing that is de- 
I can enter. O dismal solitude ! O terrible sen* 
• Tit. i. 15. |2 Pst.iii. 10, 11. 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER 

*rat : on! With what tears shall it be deplored! 
What tokens of mourning are deep enough to ex- 
press the melancholy state i And, alas 1 we speak 
not of a malady that is rarely to be found. It is he- 
reditary to all the sons of Adam without exception : 
for they are altogether become filthy ; there is none 
that doth good, no not one.* How can he he clean 
that is burn of q, woman i r 

No wonder the priest was injoined to proceed 
with extraordinary caution, in inspecting the symp- 
toms yf this hateful distemper, when so much de- 
pended upon the sentence he should pronounce. A 
person was not to be pronounced unci 
den, nor upon every slight symptom of !:--. 

might have appeared in his flesh ; for ; 

Israelite was to be shut up seven days, and on the 
seventh day to be judged according as the symptoms 
W'ere favourable or malignant. This surely was de- 
signed to inculcate the extraordinary caution where- 
with the office-bearers in the church, as well as oth- 
ers, ought to try the spirits, and separate the pre- 
cious from the vile ; and that no man's state should 
be deemed bad, unless there are most evident to- 
kens of sin having the dominion over him. Every 
man who had in his skin a spot, freckle, or blister, 
was not to be judged a leper. Nor must we say of 
every sin of infirmity, It is not the spot of his chil- 
dren ; for in many things we offend all. X Again, a 
man whose hair fell off his head or forehead, through 



■ 



Psal. liii. 3. - t Job. xxv. 4* t James iii. 2, 

s 2 



103 TYPICAL THINGS. 

the decay of nature, or otherwise, though he was 
bald, yet he was not a leper. Nor are they all in a 
state of sin, the vigour of whose spiritual life is 
much abated, and who, alas I have left their first 
love. Yea, though an Israelite was actually seized 
with a leprosy, if there were tokens that it was not 
gaining upon nature, but that nature was expelling 
it, as suppose the plague was not in sight deeper 
than the skin, or if it spread not in the skin, or 
if the plague was somewhat dark, and there 
were black hairs in the rising, or if it covered 
all the skin from head to foot wheresoever the 
priest looked ; in any of these cases he was not pro- 
nounced unclean : for these were favourable symp- 
toms that the distemper had not infected the vitals y 
that the whole mass of blood was not corrupted ; and 
that nature was still strong, and working out the 
contagion. No more must we conclude, that they 
are all in a bad state, who may take up the pitiful 
complaint of David, My loins are filled with a loth- 
some disease, & there is no soundness in my flesh.* 
The leper, whose plague is not in sight deeper than 
the skin, is he whose life may indeed be stained 
with some external blemishes ; but he sins not with 
all his heart, which is still sound in God's statutes. 
The leper, whose plague spreads not in the skin, but 
was at a stay, is he who emerges from his fall, like 
David or Peter, by a speedy repentance. Their 
s>in was but a scab : they washed their cloaths in the 
blood of Christ, and were clean. 

• Psal, xxxviiit 7* 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 209 

The leper, whose plague was somewhat dark, and 
the hairs not turned white, (a sure sign of the 
strength of nature), is he who has a principle of life 
and strength within him, that never can be subdued 
by the strongest efforts of sin, but shall prevail at 
the last. The leper, who was all turned white in 
every part, from head to foot, (a sign that the dis- 
temper was expelled from the vilals to the external 
parts, and that the cure was as good as wrought), is 
he who has obtained an evangelical conviction of 
his natural pollution in heart and life, that he is al- 
together become filthy ;* and that in him, that is ? 
in his flesh, there dwells no good thing.f 

But, on the other hand, the bad svmotoms were 
such as these* If the hair in the plague was turned 
white j if the plague was in sight deeper than the 
skin of his flesh ; if .there was quick raw flesh in the 
rising ; and if it spread itself further and further in 
the skin. And the worst of all kinds was the lepro- 
sy in the head ; The priest shall pronounce him ut- 
terly unclean $ his plague is in his head.f He that 
had white and yellow hair in the sore of his leprosy, 
is the sinner who has no strength to oppose any 
temptation, and can make no resistance at all to the 
lusts of his own heart: for white hairs are signs of 
the debility of nature, and that death is fast ap- 
proaching. " Grey hairs, 15 saith the prophet Hoses, 
are here and there upon him,yet he knoweth it not..§ 

* Psal. 1III. 3, f Pvom. vii* 1 8. J Lev. xiii. 44,. 

§ Hos, vii. $» 

a 3 



£10 TYPICAL THINGS. 

And s:\fth the Lord God in Ezekiel, How weak is 
thine heart, seeing thou dost all these things ?* 

He whose leprosy was in sight deeper than the 
i>kin, is an emblem of the sinner who works wicked- 
ness with full consent, and from the very bottom of 
his soul, whose transgression proclaims, that his 
heart is not right in the sight of God, & to whom the 
vrords of the prophet maybe addressed, This thy 
wickedness is bitter ; it reacheth unto thine heart.t 
He ihat had quick raw flesh in the rising of his 
plague, may perhaps denote the dinner who cannot 
endure to be touched or reprimanded: for his fault, 
though in the gentlest manner. This is a dange- 
rous symptom indeed ! David,this was not thy spot: 
Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness j 
let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil,which 
shall not break my head.}: He whose plague did 
spread in the skin, is the sinner who waxes worse 
and worse, and increases unto more ungodliness.— 
And, lastly, the man, whose plague was in his head, 
is the smuer, the faults of whose life proceed from 
the errors of his mind ; whose understanding is de- 
bauched by his will, and he is arrived at such a pitch 
of wickedness, as to vindicate himself in the gratifi- 

ation of his lusts, and even to glory in his shame. 
He is utterly unclean, and hardly, very hardly, shall 
his cure be ever effected. Butthe rites of cleansing, 
demand oar next attention. 

"When it pleased God, who sent this doleful 
■ Ezsk.axvi. I?, t Je*. iv, i8* \ Psal. cxli. i 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 21* 

plague, to remove it again, the leper was fetched to 
the priest, or rather the priest unto the leper ; and 
when, upon a narrow scrutiny, it appeared the cure 
was really wrought, he was pronounced clean; but 
not without practising various purging ceremonies 
on the first, the seventh, and the eighth day. Je- 
sus Christ is that priest to whom the leprous soul is 
brought, or rather who hath condescended to come 
to us, who could not go to him, because we were 
polluted in our blood without the camp, aliens from 
the commonwealth of Israel. He is come, not 
merely to cleanse them, who are already healed, 
like the legal priest, but to heal them who, without 
his helping hand, were absolutely incurable. The 
Israelite, who was brought for cleansing to the 
priest, was himself to provide the necessary obla- 
tions, not without, some cost and toil. But the 
High Priest of good things t:> come, demands no 
such conditions from those who come for healincr 
to their souls : himself has laid out the necessary 
charges, and has, by the one offering of himself for 
us, for ever perfected all them who are sanctified. 
But let us more narrowly attend to the ceremonies 
of cleansing, in the order wherein they were per* 
formed. 

Oa the first day of the leper's appearance before 
the priest, the priest was to take for him two bird3 
alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and 
hyssop, to make with them a sprinkling instrument^ 
An earthen vessel was filled with running, water,, over 



212 TYPICAL THINGS. 

which one of the birds was to be killed, and the other 
bird, together with the sprinkling instrument, being 
dipt in the bloody water, the leper was to be sprink- 
led with it seven times, and the birdletloose into the 
open field. And the leper, though pronounced clean 
by the priest, was notwithstanding to cleanse himself 
still more, by washing his cloathes, shaving his hair, 
and bathing his body. And after that he was per- 
mitted to come into the camp; but he was to tarry a- 
broad out of his tent seven days. Some have thought, 
and perhaps not without some reason, that the ma- 
terials which were to be procured on this occasion > 
might be expressive of that wholesome state en which 
the leper was now to enter. Before he was in a man- 
ner dead, but now restored to life, which might be 
signified by the living birds^ Before he was putrefy- 
ing, and in a state of corruption, but now vigorous 
and robust, signified by the cedar. Before he was 
pale and wan, but now of a lively brisk complexion, 
signified by the scarlet. Before he was nauseous to 
the smell, but now cured of his ill cent, signified by 
the hyssop. But what hinders us to think of still 
greater mysteries, and to lift our thoughts to the 
purging of our sins by our great High Priest? The 
two birds alive and clean, may denote the two na- 
tures of Jesus Christ. The human nature was put 
to death, but the divine nature was incapable of suf- 
fering. By the human nature he died for our offen- 
ces, and by the divine nature he rose again for our 
justification. The sprinkling instrument of cedar. 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 213 

scarlet, and hyssop, may signify the ordinances of the 
gospel, by which the blessings of Christ's death are 
communicated. The running is the Spirit of Christ, 
who is always imparted to the heart, when the blood 
is sprinkled on the conscience. The earthen 
ve sel is an emblem of the ministers of Christ, 
who, though frail and brittle creatures, and despica- 
ble in the eye of the world, and some but of small 
capacity and size, are intrusted with this invaluable 
treasure of gospel-grace, to be dispensed unto others. 
And whereas the priest was to kill one of the birds, 
this intimates, that without shedding of blood is no 
remission.* He was to dip the living bird in the 
blood of the dead one ; this imports, that the blood 
of Christ's humanity is, by the hypostatical union, 
the blood of his divinity, or the blood of God, which 
is the very thing that renders it the blood of atone- 
ment. The sprinkling instrument of cedar, scarlet, 
and hyssop, was to be dipt in the same blood : for 
all the ordinances, and all the means of salvation^ 
are sanctified by the blood of Christ alone. In this 
blood, if we may be allowed the expression, must 
ministers dip their sermons, if they would be pronta- 
able to men ; & in this blood must Christians dip their 
good works, if they expect them to be acceptable 
unto God. The sprinkling the leper seven times* 
signifies that perfect cleanness which is, by the blood 
of sprinkling, introduced into the conscience, and 
which the royal penitent so pathetically breathes af* 



214 TYPICAL THINGS. 

ter, Wash me, and I shall be clean; sprinkle me 
with hyssop, and I shall be whiter than snow**— — 
The dismission of the other bird into the open field, 
may perhaps denote the resurrection of the Son of 
God, or that his divine nature was untouched by 
death. Or, as the living bird received its liberty 
when dipt in the blood of the dead one ; so we ars 
made to know the power of his resurrection, by the 
fellowship of his sufferings, and may truly say, 
.Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the 
fowler. f The leper, thus sprinkled according to the 
ordinance, though pronounced clean by the priest, 
was required to shave his hair, and wash himself 
and his clothes in water, that he might be clean ; 
which was not only a precaution to prevent relapse, 
though any relicts of the distemper lurking in his 
hair or garments, but may also point forth to us this 
momentous truth* that our being sprinkled by our 
High Priest with the clean water of his blood, does 
not at ail supersede the cleansing ourselves from all 
filthiness of the flesh and spirit. There is no person 
who partakes this glorious privilege, who endeav ors 
not, as his duty to purify himself, to lay aside all su- 
perfluity of naughtiness, to put o ff the old man, and 
to hate even the garment spotted with the fiesho 
by having no fellowship with the unfruitful 
works of darkness. Nor are his purifying endeav- 
ours to be intermitted, but persisted i-i all the days 
of his life, as the leper was to repeat on the seventh 
Psal. li. 7% + Tsal, exjdv. 7| 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 81S 

day the ceremonies of shaving and washing ; for 
sanctification is a gradual and progressive work, that 
shall not be completed till the week of this mortal 
life is fulfilled. Such were the ceremonies of the 
first and of the seventh day. 

Onthe eighth day, diree lambs were to be fetched 
for a trespass-offering, a sin-offering,, and a burnt- 
offering, a quantity of fine ficur for a meet-offering, 
and one log of oil. If he was not able to afford such 
costly offerings, the Lord accepted such as he was 
able to get, which are also condescended upon in the 
law. These sacrifices, being presented, together 
with the leper, before the Lord, were to be offered 
in the usual manner. But the bleed ol the trespass- 
offering, was, by a peculiar ceremony, to be applied 
to the extreme parts of the leper's body, the tip of 
his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the 
great toe of his right foot. Above the blood the oil 
to be applied in the same manner, and the over- 
plus poured upon his head who was to be cleansed* 
These sacrifices, without all doubt, had the same 
general meaning as other sacrifices ; and the peculiar 
ceremonies were doubtless very significant: as if the 
priest had said to the leper, u I put this blood and 
this oil on your ear, 110 w you are free to hear the 
word of God in any synagogue : I put it on your 
thumb, novv you may handle any thing, and not de- 
file it: I put them on your toe, now you may go 
where you please, and men will not avoid your so- 
ciety.- ' But what forbids us to think of still higher 



216 TYPICAL THINGS. 

mysteries ? These particular parts of the body may 
signify the preceptive and executive faculties, in 
both which we offend, and for both which we need 
the great propitiation.* Was not this the language 
of that solemn rice ? " Now you are made clean, let 
all your faculties and powers be devoted to the ser„ 
vice of Gad, Let your ears be open to the com" 
mauds of Cod. Let the works of your hands be 
established and accepted by him. Let your foot- 
steps be ordered in his word." The oil that was put 
upon the biGod, most certainly signifies the Holy 
Ghost, as a spirit of sanctification. By the blood 
of his merit, he forgives all iniquities; and by the 
oil of his Spirit, he heals all our diseases. By the 
first we are justified; by the second we are sanctified. 
By the one, sin shall not condemn, to suffer the pun- 
ishment it deserves; and by the other, it shall not 
command, to obey the orders it gives. And where- 
as the remnant of the oil in the priest's hand was to 
be poured on his head that was cleansed, this most 
undoubtedly prefigured the shedding of the Holy 
Ghost on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
Saviour, It is said in one place, Ye have an unction 
from the Holy One ;t and in another, He \\ ho hath 
anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and 
given the earnest of the Spirit in our heart: .£ 

How foolish a part had that Israelite acted, who 
had contented himself with making applications to 
the physician, without having to the priet-tfbrcleani- 
• Hervey, yo1,I, Dial. 3. f 1 John ii. 20, $ 2 Cor. i, 2 J, 22, 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 217 

ing of his leprosy ! Alas ! the bairn in Gileatl ccui& 
not supply the place of the sacrificial blood. Nor 
do thej act a wiser part, who seek to the physicians 
of their own legal endeavours for the cure of their 
leprosy, but not unto Jesus Christine High Priest, 
who stands ready with his hyssop & blood. Can the 
rivers of Damascus compare with the waters of Is- 
rael ? Bring us, Lord to the Jordan of thy grace 
for cleansing these leprous souls 1 Lord, if thou 
wilt, thou canst make us clean** O sprinkle us witk 
hyssop, and we shall be whiter than the snow.t 

XIV. THE LAV/ of .the NEAR KINSMAN. 

IT is riot for nought the near kinsman among the 
Jews, and the Lord himself, are alike denom- 
inated in the original language of the Hebrews.—- 
Why should the name Goel be common to him that 
acted the kinsman's part among the Jews^ and to the 
God of Israel, if there were not a great resemblance 
betwixt the kindly offices of the one and the gracious , 
benefits of the other ? And the propriety of this ob- 
servation will more evidently appear from an indue* 
tion of particulars. For what the earthly Goel, or 
nearest blood-relation was enjoined to do for his 
brother under the law, the heavenly Goel, that is, 
the ail-gracious Redeemer, hath done, in the most 
eminent manner, for sinners of the human race un„ 
der the gospel. If an Israelite died without chil* 

* Matth. yiiii 2, f Psal. li. 7. 

T 



218 TYPICAL THINGS. 

dren* the Goel was to nfiarry his widow, to raise up 
seed unto his brother, that his name might not per- 
ish. If, through poverty, he had sold away his 
posscsson, the Goel was to buy back his inheritance* 
If, tor the same reason, he had sold himself for a 
servant to another man, the Goel was to redeem 
him from his master. And, lastly, If an Israelite 
was murdered, his Goel was to avenge his blood 
by bringing the wilful murderer to suffer condign 
punishment. Waving the political reason of these 
laws, we shall confine ourselves to their allegorical 
interpretation : for on all these accounts, the believ- 
er, in the promised Messiah, may say of him with 
Job, I know my Goel liveth.* 

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left us this 
day without a Kinsman, to marry and raise up the 
seed of good works unto our barren nature. Once 
she was fruitful unto God before the breach of the 
first covenant ; but now, alas! the image of God 
she wore at first is miserably defaced ; her hus- 
band the law is become dead and weak through the 
rlcsfc, and she can bring forth no children unto God, 
that is', can produce no action that bears resemblance 
unto him, or corresponds to the demands of the law. 
Sin and death, these are the only births of corrupt 
nature ; and we may truly say of all men in their 
unrenewed state, They conceive mischief, they 
bring forth falsehood, andiheir beMv prepa elh de- 
ceit, t At best they can only say, We have labour-* 

p Job. xix. 25. | Jub. *v- 3$. 



THE LAW of the NEAR KINSMAN. 21$ 

ed, we have b. en in pain, We li3.ve brought for:h 
wind.* But the loving Kinsman consented to mar- 
ry this barren nature, by assuming a true body and a 
reasonable soul, its two essential parts, into a per- 
sonal union with himself, and by uniting with him- 
self, in a mystical union, a great number of indivi- 
duals of our race. It is true, the match was most 
unequal, and huge difficulties were to be surmount- 
ed, before the marriage could be solemnized, and 
the bride prepared for her hu band. But his love 
was stronger than death itself, and we are become 
dead to the law by the body of Christ, that we mi 
be married to another husband, even to him that 
was raised from the dead, that the barren woman 
might keep house, and become a joyful motnci" of 
children. Now that our Maker is our H«sBand,she 
that was barren hath born seven, and the promise 
is accomplished, Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine 
by the sides of thy house, her children like olivet 
plants round about thy tablet We may truly af- 
firm of all the happy souls that are espoused to the 
one Husband, u Every one beared* twins," 
love of God and his neighbour, and none is bam n 
among them.; These children are indeed the her- 
i age oi the Lord, and this fruit of the womb his re- 
ward : happy is the man that hath his quiver full of 
them.§ Here am I, will he say in the great daj of 
the Lord,& the children whom thou hast given me. |j 

* Is. xxvi 18. f Psal. xxviii. 3. J Song iv. 2* 

§ Psal, csxvii. 3. 5. H Heb. ii. 13. 

1 2 



«o TYPICAL THINGS. 

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left us wl: 
cut a Kinsman to redeem the mortgaged inheritance 
of everlasting life, which, alas! we -sold away for 
<::e morsel of forbidden fruit, but are not able to 
!: again by all the money of "bar obedience or 
sufferings. None of our k',n were able to pay the 
price. For all men being equally involved in the 
same ruin, none of them could redeem his brother :- 
and angels, though glorious and perfect creatures, 
yet needed nil their holiness for themselves; and 
had they under:: *fck to pay cur debt, they would 
have, V. kinsman in Ruth, but married theft) 

own inheritance.. But, io I what men and ang:ls 
could not h. j Son of God, clothed in 

1 and bio th completely effected. The 

s "aid down in the liquid gold of bis pre* 
fciem blood to the utmost farthing of the legal de- 
mand* Now heaven is a purchased possession ; and 
by thy poverty we are become rich, O gracious Re- 
deemer, who for our sake s became st poor, thoujrh 
the silver and the gold is thine. 

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left us with- 
out a Kinsman, to redeem not only the inheritance 
to U3, but us to the inheritance s for being reduced 
to the most abject poverty by the loss of original 
righteousness, and communion with God, we sold 
ourselves, like the prodigal son in the parable, to 
the most sordid slavery of the devil ; sold ourselves 
for a wretched sustenance, the husks that swine do 

■ Fromthi servitude we could not 



m 



THE LAW of the NEAR KINSMAN. 221 

bv any means have extricated ourselves, except the 
Kin man, the Redeemer had come to Zion , had 
taken upon him the form of a servant, and given 
himself a ransom for all. Such was the hard con- 
dition of our rescue ; but in his love and in his pity 
he redeemed us,wHb had sold ourselves for nought • 
for with the Lord is plenteous redemption, and he 
will le Jeem Israel from all his iniquities.* 

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left us with- 
out a Kinsman to be the avenger of our blood, when 
the prince of the rebellious angels had massacred 
the human race in the loins of their great progeni- 
tor. That wicked spirit, suing with fierce resent* 
ment against the avenging God, and stimulated with 
envy against innocent and happy man, seduced him 
to fall oil from his Creator, and to partake of his re- 
volt. Thus he was a murderer from the beginning, 
not only of our bodies, which are, by his means, 
subjected unto the first death, but of our souls, that 
are naturally dead in trespasses and sins, and liable 
to everlasting vengeance, which is the second death. 
The holy and righteous law of God was, shall ^re 
say, the city of refuge to which he fled. He boast- 
ed, Shall the prey be taken from the mighty ? shall 
the lawful captive be delivered?! For having in 
some sense the power of death, the sting of which 
was sin, and the strength of sin was the law, what 
mere creature was able to enter into the palace of 
this strong armed Apollyon, and spoil him of hi* 

* PsaL cxxx, 7, 3, f Is. x'ix. 24* 



222 TYPICAL THINGS. 

armour ? Whoever enters on this arduous enter- 
prise, he must be able to unsting death, by satisfy- 
ing the law. Here then let us adopt the sublime 
rapture of the prophet, The Lord saw it, and it 
displeased him that there was no judgment. And 
be saw that there was no man, and wondered that 
there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought 
salvation unto him $ and his righteousness it sus- 
tained him. For he put on righteousness as a breast- 
plate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head ; 
and he put on the garments of vengeance for cloth- 
ing, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak.* Or 
shall we use the stile of the New-Testament apostle* 
when speaking of this very thing I Forasmuch then 
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he 
also himself likewise took part of the same ; that 
through death he might destroy him that had the 
power of death, that is, the devil.t The Redeem- 
er has died, the Redeemer has risen again ; O Sa- 
tan, where is thy power ? O d^ath, where is thy 
sting? For though the sting of death is sin, and 
though the strength of sin is the law, thanks be to 
God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ 
our Lor4«$ The glorious Avenger of our blood 
has not only punished the murderer, (which is all 
that man can do for his slaughtered brother) ; ! ut 
has restored life to the murdered, that in their own 
persons they may overcome the wicked one. Thus 
i he redeemed their roul from deceit and violent , 
and precious lias their blood been in his sight. 

♦ fc. lis, J5. I*. I 7« t Heb, & I* J " Cor.xv- 5 6 57- 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 22S 

XV. THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 

WHEN the knowledge of the true God was 
lost among the degenerate nations, the fa- 
mily of Abraham was chosen to be the repository of 
that most invaluable treasure.. It was promised in 
solemn manner to this venerable patriarch, that he 
should have a numerous progeny, and a peculiar 
seed, that should become a universal blessing to the 
world. In process of time he was the progenitor of 
a mighty nation, divided into twelve tribes ; who be- 
ing for a long time the only visible society where 
God was worshiped, were distinguished from other 
people with very high appellations, and valuable 
priviliges. They are stiled in the Old Testament,. 
a peculiar treasure,* a kingdom of priests,! and a 
holy nation, J the inheritance,^ the vineyard, jj the 
congregation^, the tribes of the Lord of hosts,** 
and his first-born son.it To them pertained the a- 
doption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the 
law, the service of God and the promises. Theirs* 
were the fathers, and from them the Messias him- 
self was to spring according to the flesh.JJ This 
famous nation, after many vicissitudes of fortune, 
were at last, for the horrid crime of rejecting and 
murdering the Messiah, disinherited by the offend- 
ed God of their fathers, divested of all their glori- 
ous privileges, ejected from the land ofpromise, and 
are become miserable wanderers among the nations. 

* Exod. xix. 5. f vers, 6 $ ibid. § Deut. xxxii, 19* 
|Psal. lxxx. 15. t Psal Wtr- 2. ** psal, cxxii. 4- 



224 TYPICAL THINGS. 

What shall we say then to these things ? Has 
God cast away h's people ? Is there no Israel now 
to be found, among whom his name is great? Yes ; 
though Israel, according to the flesh, is no more the 
people of God, still there is a holy nation, a royal 
priesthood, a peculiar people, a true circumcision, 
that worship God in the spirit, andhaveno confidence 
in the flesh. The sinners of the Gentiles, who were 
once polluted as dogs, stupid as stones, are now, by 
the power of divine grace, become the children of 
Abraham, and the true Israel of God. John saw 
the Christian Israel sealed in his mysterious vision, 
of every tribe a select number. And the twelve 
apostles of the Lamb are said, in a prophetic stile, 
to sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve apos^ 
tate tribes of Israel, when they became the spiritual 
fathers of the holy Christian nation, of which Is- 
rael, according to the flesh, was a figure. L^t us 
see where the resemblance lies. 

And, first, We may observe the smallness of their 
beginning. They were once but few in number, the 
fewest of all people, as their lawgiver told them. 
Though afterwards they received a prodigious 
increase, they descended from twelve men, who 
sprung from one as good as dead, that was called 
being alone*. Exactly so, the Gentile church,though 
a great multitude that no man can number, are the 
spiritual children of the twelve apostles, who sprung 
from one that was actually dead, though he lives lor 
evermore. Though the beginning of the gospel 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL, 22-5 

church was small, like a grain of seed, or a little 
leaven, ytt its latter end did gready increase. 

Secondly, The number of their enemies deserves 
our attention* This ancient people were never with- 
out enemies of one son or o.hei\, in Egypt, in the 
wilderness, and even in a itself The church 

of Christ has always, in. this state of warfare, her 
Egypt, her Amalek, her Edom, her Moab, her 
Philistines, and her Babylon. This last being the 
most eminent foe of the ancient race of Israel, i& 
viewed, in the prophetic book of the New Testa- 
ment, as a figure of the malignant ch urch, or Anti- 
:stian state, the most formidable adversary of the 
h since the ascension of our Lord. And 
truly, the prophetic descriptions of ancient Babylon,, 
hose rivers the melancholy captives of Israel 
sat clown & wept, are with the most evident propriety 
applied by the New Testament prophet to that power. 
ful, that wealthy, that idolatrous, that persecuting 
church of Rome, that sits on the many waters of 
kindreds, 8c nations, & people, and tongues* Though^ 
like the ancient Babylon, her predecessor and type, 
she should defy all danger, live deliciously, and. 
•: she is a queen, and no widow, and shall not 
know the loss of children; yet, at the appointed 
time, the cry of her destruction, her final, her total' 
destruction shall be heard ; Daughter of Babylon., 
near to destruction, blessed shall he be that rewards 
thee, as thou hast done unto us,* 
* Psal. cxsxvii. §. 



226 TYPICAL THINGS. 

The eminent deliverances of Israel is the next 
thing we shall notice. Though they were an afflict- 
ed nation from the beginning, lying among the pots, 
travelling through the floods, traversing the wilder- 
ness, weeping by Babel's streams ; yet happy wast 
thou, O Israel, a people saved by the Lord, the 
shield of thy help, and the sword of thine excellency,* 
The house of bondage could not detain them ; the 
waters of the sea could not overflow them; the wil- 
derness could not famish them; and Babylon could 
not hold them in captivity. Who knows not, that 
these illustrious works of God in behalf of the chosen 
seed, are sung in lofty numbers by the inspired pen- 
men, in phrases that describe the common salvation, 
and the redemption of the world from still more 
dreadful fots ? And the illustrious persons, who, 
under God, atchieved the several rescues of ancient 
Israel, are spoke of, in the prophets, in phrases 
that may be well adapted to the Messiah himself. 

The singularity of their laws and customs, which 
were, by Heaven's appointment, divers from all 
people, was no doubt intended to adumbrate that 
distinguishing sanctity:, so different from the fashions 
of this world, which ought to adorn the holy Christ- 
ian nation. The Jews of old were not more ridicul- 
ed by their scornful neighbors, lor the seemingoddi- 
ty of their national usages, than the peculiar people 
of Christ have been in every age, for their zealous 
attachment to the divine law, and because they 
\urc not conformed to this w oriel. 

* Dcut. xxxiii. 29. 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 22r 

But a principal thing for which the Jewish nation 
was a typical people, is the glorious national privil- 
eges they possessed, the chief of which we shall 
mention. To them belonged the adoption to be 
God's first-born son, or the election to be his pecu- 
liar people: a privilege that exalted them high above 
all nations, and yet was not conferred upon them 
because of their own worthiness or excellency, of 
whatever kind, but solely because it was the good 
pleasure of God to bestow this glorious dignity up- 
on them. Even so, the election and adoption of the 
general assembly and church of the first-born, whose 
names are written in heaven, arises r o 
source, the good pleasure of his will, an - 
in grace j noi or works, ieajst en man should boast; 
To them belonged the glorious symbols oi the di- 
vine presi ace, as the holy temple, the sacred fir£, 
and the bnghc cloud of the sanctuary; though by 
degrees these shadows vanished, as the body ap- 
proached. - What nation was so great, to have the 
Lord so near them in the visible tckens of his pres- 
ence? None but that holy nation, whose prerogative 
it is to behold the glory of the incarnate Word, 
God manifested in the flesh. To them belonged 
the law or covenant of works, ordained in the hand 
of Moses, as a mediator betwixt God and them, 
So to the Christian shurch belongs the law or cove- 
nant of works, ordained in the hand of Jesus Christ, 
the Mediator between God and man. Their medi- 
ator .could not fulfil the law for diem j theybrab* 



328 TYPICAL THINGS. 

the covenant, and God regarded them not But 
Christ hath magnified the law, and made it honour- 
able, by a most complete satisfaction and mentori* 
ous obedience. To them belonged a civil govern- 
ment, modelled by God himself ; for their state was 
a theocracy, and the Lord said unto them, I will 
be thy King.* Exactly so, the laws of the New 
Testament kingdom are all enacted by him that sits 
upon the throne ; nor must the ordinances of men 
claim homage from the subjects of Jesus Christ, 
except in so far as they comport with his positive in- 
stitutions. To them belonged the service of God, 
according to these rites which himself prescribed* 
An emblem of that reasonable and acceptable ser- 
vice which appertains to the true church, and which 
is found no where but among the societies of Christ- 
ian worshippers. To them pertained the promises 
of rest in Canaan the pleasant land, and of victory 
over the devoted nations. So to the Christian 
church belongs the promise of everlasting life, and 
final rest in the better lie avenly country, to recom- 
pcnce their wanderings through the mazy wilder- 
ness of this world; and the pivmise ^of complete 
victory over the nations of spiritual foes, the lusts 
that war in their earthly members : a more glorious 
honmir this, than to storm a city ! as, He that ruleth 
over his own spirit is better than the mighty. t 
This honour have all his saint .^ 

* U05. xiii. 10. tPr°v. xvi. 3*. J Psal, cxlix. ?. 



The Victory Over the Nations of Canaan. 229 

Here let us end— adoring the riches of that divine 
goodness, in bringing nigh, by the blood of his dear 
those that were far off, Gentiles in the uacirw 
Lcision of their flesh, aliens from the common- 
\. .ulth of Israel- — trembling at the severity of divine 
justice towards that sinful nation, who are now as 
much depressed below all other people , as once they 
v:ere exalted above them. Let us recollect the apos- 
-,Vs necessary admonition: Because of unbelief they 
v/ere broken off, and by faith we stand. Be not high 
minded, but fear.* Happy they who are endowed 
with this noble grace! Such are Israelites indeed, 
though Abraham be ignorant of tfyem, and Israel 
according to the flesh acknowledge them not.t For if 
4 e are Christ's, then are we Abraham's seed, and 
heirs according to the promise. J 

XVI. THE VICTORY OVER THE NA- 
TIONS OF -CANAAN. 

EFORE the tribes cf the Lord eould possess 
their goodly heritage, the numerous and mighty 
nations that dwelt in Canaan werefistto be expelled. 
What if for once the eternal Sovereign, and just 
Governor of the world, shall transfer to a chosen 
seed, the property of a land inhabited by guilty 
wretches, and put into their hand a two-edged sword 
to execute vengeance upon the Heathen, and pun- 
ishments upon the people; to bind their kings with 
chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron j to exe- 
cute upon them the judgment written ;| shall we 
•Rom.xi. 20, flsa, Ixiii, 16 i Gal. Hi, 29 BpsaJ cx!ix.6— 9. 

u 



9,30 TYPICAL THINGS. 

therefore presume to censure the Majesty of Heaven 
as cruel and unjust ? No: the horrid wickedness of 
these nations fullyjustiftedthe severity of their doom \ 
and the peremptory command of God absolves the 
Israelites from the charge of barbarity, in becoming 
the executioners of the sentence. If some in latter 
ages have, with equal cruelty and injustice, for 
Heaven's cause, (a horrid pretence !) made desolate 
the earth, let them not plead this precedent ; for as 
such a mandate was never given before, so shall it 
never be repeated again. But leaving it to God 
himself to vindicate his ways to man, as he is weu 
able to do, we shall proceed to notice that spiritual 
privilege of the true Israel, signified by this victory 
over the nations. 

Perhaps it were not improper to view it as an em- 
blem of the conquest over the world obtained by the 
first preachers and professors of Christianity under 
the banner of the cross, though not with carnal 
weapons. Tho 5 it is very fit that the Antichristian 
kingdom shall be promoted by the horrid methods of 
torture, massacre, fire, k faggot, the Son of man came 
lestrov menslives, but to save them. If the a- 
of tfte Lamb had a two-edged sword in their 
band, it was the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
word of God: fefitb was their shield, righteousness 
their breas' plate, and their helmet was the hope of 
*■),.. :".:;-.;iptwkhthis armour of light, they sub- 
edthe nations to the obedience of faith: nor could 
srsecutor-s swofd, the philosopher's wisdom 



The Victory ever the Nations of Canaan. 231 

nor the inveterate customs of the populace, received 
by tradition from their fathers, retard the progress of 
their victorious arms, though, to the outward eye, 
they seemed but as grashoppers before these form- 
idable sons of Anak, 

We might also here take occasion to think of that 
dominion which the upright shall have in the morn- 
ing of the resurrection, when the saints of the Most 
High shall sit with Christ upon his throne, and in 
such manner as is competent unto them, shall judge 
the world of wicked men and angels. Even in this 
imperfect state, the lustre of divine graces, and 
beauties of holiness, have commanded respect and 
veneration in the minds of proud & wicked men. A 
judge has trembled before a prisoner, and a icx has 
feared a lamb. These are preludes of that final supe- 
riority of the righteous in the decisire hour ofjudg^ 
ment, when the evil shall bow before the good, and 
be ashamed for their envy at the people they dc s pised. 

But chiefly the Canaanites we must endeavour to 

extirpate, are the lusts that war in our members, that 

war against the soul. Against these inward foes 

must we lift the hand of violence, if we mean to take 

the kingdom of Heaven. Israelites indeed, here 

point your revenge, here bend your indignation ! To 

pity these, is the highest cruelty to yourselves ; and 

to make any league with them is to be overcome. 

To mingle with these nations was fatal to Israel 

of old : thev were forbid to seek their peace or their 

wealth forever: but if thev should cleave to.the reia- 

U 2 



232 TYPICAL THINGS. 

nam of these nations, on whatever pretence, know? 
for certain, that the Lord your God will no more 
drive them out, bat they shall be snares and traps 
unto you, scourges in your sides, and thorns in your 
eyes, and shall vex you in the good land wherein ye 
dwell.* Such grieving thorns are unmortified cor- 
ruptions in our hearts : and if we consult our peace 
and safety, it will be our constant work to weaken 
their power by all possible means. But to attempt 
a reconciliation of holiness and sin, to mediate peace 
between these contrary principles, is to entail upon 
ourselves a source of perpetual disquietude. 

The Canaanitish nations were not only the first 
inhabitants of the country, but greater in number, 
and mightier in power, than Israel their conqueror* 
Go in the holy war, the sin that dwells in the soul, 
is the first possessor, and mightier than the princi- 
pal of grace received- Thanks to its omnipotent 
Aiiy, that iniquity prevails not against it, even to a 
total victory. Let none be deterred from fighting 
the good light of faith against these inward enemies, 
though perhaps some branches of the body of sin 
may seem so vivacious as even to gather new life 
by their foils ; may seem to have intrenched them- 
selves so deeply in the constitution of. the soul, and 
to derive so many advantages from outward circum- 
stances in life, that to expel them is equally impossi- 
ble, as for the Israelites to drive out those Canaan- 
tics who had chariots of iron. Under the divine 
* Jnh xxiii. 13. 



The ALLEGORY of HAGAR k SARAH. 233 

conduct of Jesus Christ, our true Joshua, we shall 
set our feet upon the necks of those dreadful foes. 
Take unto vou the whole armour of God, and re- 
move every accursed thing from the midst of thee, 
O Israel, and the Lord thy God will drive out these 
nations before thee by little and little. Their de- 
fence is already departed from them, since the law, 
the strength of sin, is perfectly fulfilled, and stript 
of its condemning power. A time, a happy time will 
come, when no jebusite shall dwell intheland, when 
no latent corruption shall infest thy soul, and there 
shall be no pricking briar, nor any grieving thorn to 
the house of Israel: for it is the gracious promise of 
the Captain of our salvation, He that overcometh, 
and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I 
give poorer over the nations, and he shall rule them 
with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall 
they be broken to shivers. # 

XVII. The Allegory of K AGAR and SARAH.-. 

AS we are informed" by the great apostle of the 
Gentiles, that the private history of Abraham's 
family was a presage of the events that happened to- 
his posterity, we shall glance it a little. This faith- 
ful patriarch had received the promise of a seed, in 
whom all nations should be blessed. But the ac- 
complishment was long delayed ; his wile proved- 
barren ; old age was stealing on apace ; and there 
seemed no human probability that Sarah shouidi 
*"■ Ret* ii. 26. 27, 

U 3, 



234 TYPICAL THINGS. 

have a son. She ought, however, to have believed 
him fakhful who had promised, and fully able to 
perform what he had said. She should not have de- 
vised iin!:.\, -fa! means of helping the promise to bring 
forth, but patiently expected God's time of visita- 
tion, which is always the best. But it was other- 
wise : for in the ardour of impatience, she urges 
Abraham her husband to marry her bond-maid ; 
fondly imagining, that this stratagem might com- 
pensate her own barrenness, and forward the birth 
of the promised seed. Whatever humility and self- 
denial this good woman maybe supposed to have 
acteel, in making such a proposal, it cannot certain- 
ly be vindicated from the charge of being in itself 
immoral, and contrary to the original dictates of 
the law of nature : for though polygamy was ordi- 
narily practised in the primitive ages of the world, 
and even in the patriarchal families, who professed 
the true religion, it is neither to be excused nor im- 
itated. There is no ground to think that God ap- 
proved, though he tolerated, the custom of having 
more wives than one. From the beginning it was 
no- so. And indeed the family-broils, which the 
scripture frequently mentions, as occasioned by this 
practice, is a sufficient confirmation of its manifest 
inconveivcnce. Of this we have a lively instance 

he present ca!-c : for no sooner is this unlawful 

overture of Sarah c wnplied with by her husband, by 

into his bed, than the insolent and dis- 

psctfui carriage of the bond-maid, when she saw 



The ALLEGORY of HAGAR & SARAH. 23 



33- 



that she had conceived, raised such variance in the 
family, that at last she is obliged to ran away frora 
the resentment of her injured mistress. But re- 
turning, and humbling herself, a peace was again 
patched up for a time. She bears Ishmael, Abra- 
ham's first-born son ; but this was not the child of 
the promise. There was nothing extraordinary a- 
bout his birth, which was, to use the phrase of the 
posue, after the flesh.* The happy seed, thac 
should become a blessing to the world, must be born 
in lawful wedlock ; not of a bond-maid, but of a free, 
woman. And, Sarah, why did you doubt if the 
power of God was able to make the barren woman a 
joyful mother ? How absurd is it for any to hastea 
providence ! Give it time, and it will do all things 
well. For when, in process of time, Abraham's 
body is as dead as Sarah's womb, lo, Isaac is con- 
ceived and born ; Isaac the promised seed, Isaac 
the long expected child, is brought forth, to the 
great joy of his parents, a son of their old age. By 
this time Ishmael is become a youth, and arrived at 
years of some discretion ; but he walks rather in 
the steps of his mother than of his father ; and is so 
daring, as to mock at his younger brother, -at his 
weaning feast. Though one would be willing to ex- 
cuse this behaviour, as proceeding only from pue- 
rile levity, the severity of the punishment inflicted 
for this fault, seems to evince, that there was a great 

mixture of impiety in this insulting carriage, and. 
♦Gal. Iv. 25. 



236 TYPICAL THINGS. 

that the promise itself was the chief thing he derid- 
ed. It could not fail to be very irritating to Sarah, 
to observe how ill her kindness to He. gar was requi- 
ted by the imdutiful deportment of her son ; and 
when she urged their present dismission from the 
family, Abraham was not over ready to comply with 
this request, because of die affection he bore to Ish- 
mael ; and he hoped that the passion of his wife, 
though just would soon subside. But the motion of 
Sarah, Cast out the bond-wdrtian, and: her son ; for 
the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with my 
son, even with Isaac,* is backed with a mandate 
from God himself. And accordingly the father of 
the Jewish nation, which is very remarkable, dis- 
cards from his family his eldest son, who was equal- 
ly circumcised with Isaac, never, as would seem, 
to return again. And this was done by the positive 
command of God himself,with a special view to pre- 
figure the future rejection of a great part of Abra- 
ham's natural posterity, that were only descended 
from him according to the flesh. 

That this was the secret design of providence in 
this memorable story, mig .t been conjectured Trom 
the narrative of Moses. But we are not allowed so 
much as to doubt of it, by that infallible expositor 
of the law, Paul-the apostle of Jesus Christ; wliOj 
discoursing on this very subject to die revolted Gal- 
atian churches,expressly says, Which things are an 
allegory, for these (women) are the two covenants*! 

* Gen. xxi. 10, f Gui. iv. 2,4% 



The ALLEGORY of SARAH & HAGAR. 23? 

According to this apostle, Hagar, with her son, was 
secretly designed to represent the covenant that pre- 
scribes our own obedience as the meritorious condi- 
tion of justification and life ; a representation of 
which covenant was exhibited at mount Sinai in A- 
rabia, and it also answers to Jerusalem that now is, 
and is in bondage with her children, that is, to the 
present apostate church of the Jews, who expect to 
be justified by the works of the law, and all who im- 
itate their example. Upon the other hand, Sarah 
the free-woman, with Isaac her son, is an emblem 
of the covenant that directs to look for salvation only 
by the righteousness of a middle person, without 
the works of the law ; which covenant was publish- 
ed from mount Zion, and answers to Jerusalem a- 
bove, or the true church, whether of Jews or Gen- 
tiles, that is free from the legal yoke, and is the mo- 
ther of us all, if we believe. Let us pursub this 
beautiful allegory a Utile in the track which the apos* 
tie has marked out. 

And, first, it may be said, that as Sarah the free- 
woman was before Hagar ; so the promise was be- 
fore the law, and the covenant of grace antecedent 
unto the covenant of works. Not to speak of the 
federal transaction betwixt the Father and the Son ? 
which the scripture frequently mentions as commen- 
cing from all everlasting, the promise, or revela- 
tion of this eternal covenant, was exhibited to the 
church long before the Sinai dispensation. 

Again, as Sarah was the mistress, and Hagar the 



233 TYPICAL THINGS. 

rrv-ud ; so the gospel is the mistress to which tht 
law was subservient. If Hagar had kept her station 
without departing from that subordination she owed 
to Sarah, she might then been of singular use in 
the patriarchs family, instead of raising these broils 
and animosities which were afterwards occasioned 
by her. For a servant bearing rule, is one of Solo- 
mon's unseemly things : and among other things 
which the earth cannot bear, and for which it is dis- 
quieted, he mentions an odious woman when s l ie is 
married,and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 
So if the legal covenant be kept in its own room and 
place, she may greatly serve the covenant of grace j 
she may be remarkably useful to convince of sin, and 
to endear a Saviour : for u the law," as the apostle 
affirms, is good if a man use it lawfully.* But if 
this bond-maid, the law, assume the sole dominion, 
and rival her mistress* to whom she should humble 
herself, that is> if she takes upon her to justify and 
save, she then works wrath, and is fatally perni- 
cious. And this the event proved* 

Hagar is taken (unseemly as it was) into the bed 
of Sarah. This seems to have prefigured, that the 
law should be taken into the room of the gospel : for 
as Abraham, after he was married to the free-wo- 
man, turned aside to the bond-maid ; so his poster- 
ity after they received the promise, from whence 
alone they should have looked for justification, and 
everlasting life, turned aside to the law, which was 

» 1 Tim. i. 8. 



■Si 



the ALLEGORY of H AGAR & SARAH, 239 

added for other end?, and expected from the law 
that which the promise only can confer. Whoever 
they be,whether of the Jewish or Christian denom- 
ination, that depend upon their own righteousness, 
either as the sole or partial cause of their salvation, 
they are guilty of the same fault in the mystery, that 
Abraham was in the letter, when he permitted Ha- 
gar to ascend the bed of her mistress. 

Though Sarah was long barren, Hagar is not, 
The birth of Ishmael is not near so difficult as the 
birth of Isaac. It is a far easier matter for the law 
to gender children unto bondage, than for the prom- 
ise to bring forth children unto liberty, j erusalein 
above, or the true gospel-church, labours indeed to 
bring forth spiritual children . bu^, ah 1 how few 
are the children of this free-woman, to the vast 
shoals of legal professors who desire to be under the 
law I The most eminent preachers of the gospel 
have had ground of complaining, Lord, who hath 
believed our report ? # and that they laboured in vain, 
and spent their strength in vain, and for nought. — - 
But as the womb of Sarah was at last opened, after 
it had been long shut ; so of the gospel-church her 
antitype the prophet cries, Sing, G barren, thou 
that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and 
cry aloud, thou that didst not travel with child ; for 
more are the children of the desolate, than the chil- 
dren of the married wife, saith the Lord.t 

The insolent behaviour of Ishmael, ,he son of th^e 
* Is. Im, i. f Is. liv. i» 



$40 TYPICAL THINGS. 

bond-maid, when he mocked the child of promise, 
who was nobler than himself, is an emblem of the 
persecuting spirit, of .elf-justiciaries against the true 
believers in all ages: for as he who was born after 
the flesh, persecuted him who wag born after the 
Spirit, even so it is now. Witness the enmity of the 
Jews against the spreading of the gospel ! Witness 
the Papists bloody rage ! Witness ye flames, that 
reduced to ashes the bodies of so many noble mar- 
tyrs ! Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Je- 
sus, must be content, in one shape or another, to 
suffer persecution. 

Lastly, the sentence of exclusion from Abraham's 
family, pronounced by the scripture against the 
bond woman and her son, was a sure presage of the 
irrevocable doom of all the children of the law, tho' 
like the circumcised, but mocking Ishmatl, they are 
born in the church, and wear the professor's badge. 
Abraham, says the scripture, rose early in the 
morning, took bread and a bottle of water,& gave it 
unto Hagar and the child, & sent her away ; and she 
departed, and wandered in the wilderness cf Beer- 
sfceba.* Even s i the carnal Jews, though Abra- 
ham i ;1, are now cast out from the churchy 
and wander thro' the world. And all who remain 
r the law, and are not, as Isaac was, the child- 
>f the promise, shall be in like manner cast oiif. 
of God, and excluded from the 
ice. 
i Gen, xr. 1 4' 



PART THIRD. 
TYPICAL PLACES. 

f. THE LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE** 

TO inspire the minds of the Israelites with the 
v rror at the dreadful sin of murder, 
God, their judge and Law-giver, not 

to appoint that the murderer should be put to 
death, but to permit the avenger of blood, or the near 

man, to k.l , with impunity from men, the un- 
fortunate manslayer, who without malice or design 
was the instrument of taking away the life of his 

hbour. Bit to counterbalance this permission, 
and to protect an unhappy man from the effects of 
ra:h resentment, it pleased the same good God to 
appoint cities of refuge in his commonwealth, to 
which the manslayer might fly -as his sanctuary from 
the avenger. These cities were six in number j 
three in the land of Canaan, and three on the other 
side of Joi dan. They belonged to the tribe of Levi* 
The roads to them were prepared by authority., 
And that nothing might retard the flight of the hap* 
less manslayer, to whom every moment was pre- 
cious, they say, that the breadth of the road was 
thirty-two cubits ; that where there happened to be 
wa-er, it was laid over with a bridge ; and that, at 
the cross ways, the inscription of REFUGE, 
REFUGE, directed where to bend his course. la 

* See Numbi xxxve Josh. xx. 

w 



S43 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the city of refuge he was supplied with all necessary 
accommodations, and his life ojice more was pro* 
tected by the laws of the realm. He was not, how* 
eyer, to venture without the precincts of the hospi- 
table town ; for if the avenger of blood should find 
and kill him, he would not been punished as a mur- 
derer for doing it. The death of the high priest was 
the first thing that released him from his confine- 
ment, and left him at liberty to go where-ever he 
pleased. Even so, by the death of the great High 
Priest, the guilty sinner is rescued from bondage 
and confinement, into the glorious liberty of the 
sons of God. 

But what we intend chiefly to notice here, is the 
resemblance betwixt the flight of the manslayer to 
the cities of refuge, and of the sinnerto Jesus Chi ist, 
as the hope set before him. And perhaps it will ap- 
pear very probable, that the method of our salvation 
was typified by this Mosaic law 5 at least, that here 
is n contemptible allegory. 

Let the manslayer be an emblem of the guilty sin-, 
ncr, who, by violating trie precept of the holy law, 
butchers his own soul, murders his neighbour, and, 
in some manner, assassinates God himself, whose 
v ry being is struck at Ly the commission of every 
sin. 

Let the aTen'ger of blood denote the inexoral 
• - ' clan angry God, whose winth it is alike im- 
possible: to shun or to endure! ; — the dreadful curse 
..inning law, whose quiver is fil led with 



THE LAW of the CITIES of REFUGE. 24* 

the arrows of every divine theatning; the invenomed 
sting of a resentful conscience, which, infixed in the 
soul, can make it a terror to itself, and all around : 
— or death, the grizly king of terrors, the univer- 
sal destroyer of the nations, through fear of whom, 
many are held in bondage all their life time. Yea f 
what creature is not ready, at the slightest intima- 
tion of the divine will, to start up an avenger of its 
Creator's quarrel against the obnoxious criminal ? 

Let the cities of refuge represent the glorious 
Immanuel, and his blessed mediation. These cities 
pertained to the promised land, and were to be 
found no where else. So the salvation of Jesu3 
Christ is exhibited in the church : u Upon mount 
" Zion there shall be deliverance* ; and God is 
known in her palace for a refuge!/ 5 They belong- 
ed to the priestly tribe. Ani the priestly offices of 
the Redeemer is that branch of his character which 
affords the most immediate relief to the sin-burden- 
ed soul. They were six in number, and scattered 
through the territories of Israel at convenient dis- 
tances, that where ever the misfortune should hap- 
pen,, the manslayer might not have far to go to one 
cr other of them. May not this put us in mind, thai 
our Redeemer is a present help in trouble ? to find 
whom we need neither climb up to heaven, nor dive 
into the bottom of the sea ; for the word is nigh 
unto us. And in this word, the great JEHOVAtl 
brings near his righteousness, and his salvation, 

* Obadiah ver. 17* f Psal. xlviii. 2. 



"244 TYPICAL PLACES. 

The patency and plainness of the roads that led t« 
these cities of protection, may occasion our reflect- 
ing on much the same thing. Guilty, condcn-. 
trembling sinner, see how thy city of refuge expands 
her gates ! how the stumbling-blocks are removed f 
how the way is prepared I how the law is satisfied, 
justice attoned, and God reconciled ! how the way* 
iaring man, though a fool, needs not err in the way 
of holiness ! Nothing, nothing ought to retard thy 
present flight unto the hope set before thee, to hin- 
der thy present trusting in Christ for everlasting sal* 
vation from sin, and its dreadful consequences. 

But who is he that thus flies for refuge to Jesus 
Christ from the inexorable justice of an angry God, 
and from the dreadful curse of a condemning law? 
If the manslayer had not been conscious of the deed, 
and apprehensive of the kindsman's resentment on 
that account, he would not have judged it necessary 
to save himself by flight. And if he could have 
thought of a better expedient to ensure his safety ^ 
he would not have fled to a city where he must long 
remain a prisoner, and in exile. But necessity, 
hard necessity, drove him to it as his only sanctua- 
ry. Even so the refugee, who flies to Jesus Christ 
from the avenging wrathof God,isaperson in whose 
heart is wrought a conviction of his guilt, an appre- 
hension of his danger, and a despair of every other 
refuge. Formerly he had a very favourable opinion 
ofh'mself, and his convictions of moral guilt were so 
general and moderate, a* to sit easy upon his mind, 



THE LAW of the CITIES of REFUGE. 245 

without wounding his rest. He thought it no dif- 
ficult matter to elude the divine threats ings, and 
imagined himseli secure, because he was thoughtless 
of danger. The secrecy of sin, the example of tha 
multitude, the hope of long life, the distance of the 
day. o; judgment, the presumption of God's mercy, 
his privileges and reputation as a member of 'the 
church ; these, and such like things, he fled unro, 
as a sanctuary from his melancholy thoughts. Or, 
perhaps he stilled the enemy and avenger of an accu- 
sing conscience, with business, with recreations, 
with sensual indulgence s. But now' a dreadful sound 
©f vengeance is in his ears. He sees the heinous 
guik of his iniquities — hears, with Adam, the voice 
of God — knows not where to hide his guilty head — « 
looks on his right hand, and beholds, but there is 
no shelter ; all refuge- fails him, and no man cares 
for his soul. The method of salvation by Christ 
unfolds unto his view. £ This is the way, waik ve 
u in it*/' says the voice from heaven ; and ^ Turn 
* ^o this strong hold, thou prisoner of hopet." And 
as the man who Hies for his life from a pursuing en- 
emy, will cast away from hirn. any thing, -however 
valuable, that would cumber and detain him ; so he 
parts at once both with his sins, and with his own 
righteousnesses ; and what things were gain to hinv 
he counts them loss, that he may wn Chris , and 
be found in him. He cries unto him, and sa s, 
t; O Lord, thou art my refuge : attend unto 

* Is. x*x, 2i» . fZech. ix. 12* 

w % 



£46 TYPICAL PLACES. 

" cry, for I am brought very low : deliver me 
" from my persecutors, for they are stronger than 

It was not only required of the manslayer, that 
he should fly to the city of refuge for once ; but he 
was to remain there till the death of the high priest. 
Nor is it sufficient tobelieve in Christ for once, with- 
out abiding in him as our sure defence. Our High 
Priest never dies, therefore should we abide in our 
refuge for ever: "for in returning and rest shall we 
^ be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be 
u our strength t." 

The protection afforded to all r both Jews and 
Gentiles, (for there was no difference,) who fled to 
these cities of refuge, is no despicable representa- 
tion of the ability of Jesus Christ to save to the ut- 
termost all that come unto God by him. Soon as 
the wretched manslayer reached the wished town, 
Where he was legally secure of life, and where (they 
say) no weapons were allowed to "be made or sold, 
he could talk with the avenger, without turning pale; 
though before his throbbing heartbeat high with the 
impulse of fear, while he tho't that every man he 
met would slay him. Even so the miserable sinner, 
who has obtained a discovery of his guilt, and been 
brassed perhaps for some considerable time with a 
fearful looking for of judgment, his soul draws nigjH 
unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers: the 
moment he finds his rest in Christ, by believing in 



The LAW of the CITIES of REFUGE. 247 

him for life and salvation, he can sit and answer all 
his accusers, and talk with every enemy and aven- 
ger. " O enemy, destructions are come ..0 a per- 
" petual end t. Who shall lay any thing to the 
*< charge of God's elect? Ic is God that justified ; 
* it is Christ that died +." Produce your charge, O 
Jaw ! and death, where is thy sting ? 

We shall, lastly, observe the superior excellency 
of our New- Testament refuge to these ancient cit- 
ies of protection. In all things he has the pre-emi- 
irence. None were to be finally privileged in Uiese 
cities but the raansiayer : who was not indeed gail- 
ty of any crime, but rather ill-fated and unhappy. 
If the wilful murderer had fled to any of them, or 
even to God's altar, he was to be dragged from 
thence to suffer condign punishment. But none were 
ever dragged from Jesus Christ, who fled unto him 
by faith, to return again into condemnation, howev- 
er atrocious their crimes, however flagrant their 
guilt. Here murderers* adulterers, blasphemers, 
persecutors, and the most execrable miscreants that 
ever the sun beheld, have been for ever delivered 
from their Judge. These ancient towns defended 
©ply the natural life from the avenger's sword, which 
was to be, however, soon paid as a debt to nature. 
But if Jesus Christ is our refuge, he will rescue us 
from everlasting vengeance; he will give unto u-* 
eternal life, and we shall never perish. The refu- 
gees in the old cities of refuge were indeed secured 

t Psal. ix, &► \ Rom, ?iii. 33. 34, 



US TYPICAL PLACES. 

in their live? by the iavvs oJ the land. But the "pro* 
i of God that cannot lie, and the oath of 
Cod which cannot he recalled, are two im>- 
mutablj things, by which their eternal happiness i$ 
s< cured, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the 
here set before them. Happy believer, thy co.ns.o-- 
ong indeed; stronger than the afflictions 
oi i.e. ..w^^r than the fear of deaui, and strongs 
.or of judgment. Why shouldst thou 
not ( fears, when thy never ending safety 

from the most dvtaaful dangers is so amply secured* 
that Cod himself, for whom it is impossible to lie. 
would (O blasphemous thought !) be perjured* 
shouldst thou ever come «i;o condemnation ? "The 
u eternal God is thy refuge % a very picas.-uit help 
" in trouble, though the earth be removed, and tho' 
1 mountains be arried into the midst of die sea y 
* ; though the waters thereof roar and be troubieUt*"' 



tt? 



II. THE TABERNACLE IN TH 
WILDERNESS^ 

r I HT TE tabernacle which Moses made in the wil- 
- *- denies*, by the special appointment of the (> >d 
of Israel, was the fir^t religious structure in wh ; .h 
the eternal Majesty vouchsafed to dwell on the 
earth. It was a sort of a portable temple, and no* 
unfitly esteemed the center of th ; c ei e nion'.al wo r- 
sliip. The materials of it were collected 

•"Dut. xxxiii. 27. | PsaL. xlvi. 1.2.3 fExod, xxv. xxvi xxvil** 



The Tabernacle in the Wilderness. 24* 

vcluntarv contributions of the children of Israel 
who, upon this occasion, offered so liberally, that 
Moses found it necessary to stop them by a new* 
proclamation. The pattern of it was minutely de- 
scribed to Moses in the mount by God himself, who 
ordered him to be very exact :. executing the heav- 
enly plan. Two famous artist, whose names were 
Bezaleel and Aholiab, were inspired by the Spirit 
of God with most exquisit and masterly skill, to 
finish the holy fabric, and its utensils, according to 
the divine plan. If you are curious to know the 
construction of this sacred tent, you may take this 
short description of it. 

First of all,there was a spacious court, a hundred 
cubits long*, and fifty broad. It was hung round with 
cunains of fine twined linen, that were fastened with 
silver hooks to pillars with sockets of brass filleted 
with silver. The gate by which you entered to this 
wide area, was a hanging of twenty cubits, of blue 
purple, and scarlet, and ane twined linen, wrought 
with needle-work, and suspended by four pillars. 
This outward court the whole nation might enter on 
their solemn festivals, as it is said, u Enter into his 
* gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with 
? praise*." Here, under the open sky, stood the 
altar of b rnt offering, and the brazed- lav er. 

Within the circumference of this wide and open 
ecurt was the tabernacle itself, into which none but 
the tribe of Levi were allowed to enter, to accora* 

• Psal. c, f. 



450 TYPICAL PLACES, 

plish the service of God. It was a close tent, twen* 
ty cubits long, ten cubits broad, and its height equal 
to its breadth. It was constructed of boards of 
Shittim-wood of regular dimensions, running into 
one another. These boards were supported beneath 
with sockets of silver tad corroborated behind with 
bars of the same wood over laid with gold, and fast- 
ened by golden rings through which they passed. 
Do you ask, what was the roof of this magnificient 
tent? First, it was covered with ten curtains of equal 
measure, of twined linen, and blue, and purple^ 
and scarlet embroidered with cherubims, and 
coupled with loops of blue, and taches of gold. 
Then it was covered with eleven curtains of goats 
h;rir, hung together by taches of brass. Next it 
was covered with rams skins died red. And above 
all, there was a covering of badgers skins, to pro- 
tect the tabernacle, and its coverings, from the inju- 
ries of the weather. 

But though these boards and curtains, thus joined 
together, made but one tabernacle, this ore taber- 
nacle was divided into two merits, The 
was called THE HOLY PLACl,, h-owhichyou 
entered ihro'gh a vnl or hanging oi , purple* 
and scarlet, and fine twined , c'iiihfou rol- 
ed, supported with five pillars of Sbktim-wood," 
overbad with gobl, and their bases of brass, nnd 
fastened with golden hooks. Here stood the gol- 

i table* tiie golden candl , a .d the gol 

altar. The second was called THE MOST HO- 



The Tabefnacle in the Wilderness. %S1l 

SLY PLACE, into which the high priest, and none 
but he, did enter once in the year, through a second 
vail, of the same materials with the first, brcidered 
with cherub ims, and fastened by golden taches to 
four pillars of Shittim-wood, overUvdw thgold, and 
*heir bases'of silver. In this secret chamber of the 
Deity were reposited the most sacred symbols of 
the divine presence. Here was the ark of the cove- 
nant, covered by the mere} -seat, and over it the 
cherubims of glory, between which JEHOVAH 
himself was said to dwell. Here was the gold en 
pot that had manna, and the miraculous rod of 
Aaron that budded. And here the appearance of 
the glory of the Lord is supposed to have resided, 

and been seen on soecial occasions. 
i 

Such was the structure of this holy tent, which 
was built in the taste of Heaven, reared up by the 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and consecrated by 
Moses. And we mus: forget not, this one thing, 
^hatitwas a moveable pavihion^ and he re fore so 
contrived as to be easily taken down, and set up a- 
gain. While the peculiar people sojourned in the 
wilderness, the tabernacle shared the same fate, be, 
ing transported from place to place by the ministry 
of the levite\ When they posses- ed the promised 
land, at fir t it rested at Gilgal, afterwards in Shi- 
loh ; in the clays of Saul, it seems to have been in 
Nob ; and when Solomon began to reign over Isra- 
el, it was pitched in Gibeon. But at the last it was 
altogether superseded by the magmticient -temple 



$£* TYPICAL PLACES. 

!t by that glorious monarch ; and probably the 
costly materials of it v ere lodged among tha 
asures of the house of the Lord. 
What shall we then say of these things ? Did the 
high and loft} Cue, whe se dwelling is not with flesh, 
who resides not in tern} hs made with hand , did he 
stand in the least need of this moveable habitation ? 
Glorious a- it was, can we reasonably think i' tohuve 
beena meet apartment for tVedeitj ^oraiall adequate 
to the inconceivably glorious, immense and eter- 
nal Spirit ? What a contempiible idea of the true 
God would such a supposition inspire into the mind? 
Away w T ith sach a groveling thought, so unworthy 
of God, and shocking to reason herself! But if we 
suppose, that these holy places made with hands 
were figures of heaven, of Christ, and of the church, 
and exhibited as such to the believing Israelites, then 
doubtless we will be reconciled to that very par icu- 
lar regard the high God was pleased to shew r to the 
worldly sanctuary. Then we shall be able to ac- 
count lor that ardent affection the ancient believers 
confessed on all occasions t the tabernacles of the 
Lord of hosts. Then it will not appear absurd* 
that the fame God who spent but six days in 
ci ••: I . tlie universal frame of nature should 

nd no less than forty in ^prescribing trie 
little frame of the tabernacle. And thai tl 
fa ly places mad i with hands, were figures of h 

of Christ, and of the church, we are now 
to declare. 



The Tabernacle in the Wilderness. 25-3 

First then, the tabernacle of Moses was a figure 
of heaven itself, that glorious high throne from the 
beginning. For this interpretation we have the ex* 
press word of an inspired penman of the New-Tes* 
tameiit, who, speaking of our great High Priest, 
declares, that 4 he is net entered into the 
44 hoi\ places made w\ are the figures 

4 - of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to ap- 
u pear in the presence of God for u^*. 9? Perhaps 
we should not err though we should think, that, as 
the Jewish high priest went through the outward 
court, and passed through the holy place into the 
holiest oi all * so Jesus Christ, when he ascended 
en high, passed through the first heaven of clouds, 
and the second heaven of stars, into the thirdheaven 
of angels. But though the most holy places w T as by 
itself aione the most eminent figure oi the heavenly 
sanctuary, this hinders not to regard the whole 
fabric as an emblem of the same blissful mansion. 
Was the tabernacle of Closes divided into several 
parts? We know him that said, tC In my Father's 
" house are many mansionst." Was it a place of 
great splendour and magmficienee even to the eye ? 
Ci Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of the 
u living God^.' 5 Was it the dwelling of'jEHO. 
VAH, where the visible tokens of his presence 
were seen ? In the heavenly mansions he unvails 
the brightness of his glory to all the saints around 
him. Bid priests always officiate there ? The saints 

fi H% ix. 24, t» Johnxiv. 2, | PsjL buutvii. $* 



9*4 TYPICAL PLACES. 

in light are both kings and priests unto God. Wefc 
the curtains broidered with cherubims ? In the 
.celestial abodes are the innumerable company of 
angels. Was it replenished with all necessary fur- 
niture and provision ? In heaven is the true light, 
£md the living bread, fulness of joy, and pleasures 
for evermore. Did the voice of praise continually 
resound in the earthly tabernacle ? The eternal re- 
gions are for ever filled with loud hosannas. Was 
holiness and legal purity required in all who trod the 
venerable courts of God's ancient dwelling-place ? 
Nothing that is defiled can enter the heavenly Je* 
irisalem. And lastly, as the tabernacle was sprink- 
led with blood by the Jewish high priest, when he 
penetrated its innermost recesses once in the year: 
with ike names of all the tribes engraven on his 
heart ; even so the blood of Jesus Christ has conse* 
crated that high and holy place, that sinners of the 
human fcind might not be for ever excluded fron* 
dwelling in the beatific presence of JEHOVAH. 
When the everlasting gates of heaven were by sin 
barred for ever againU us, the blood of Christ was 
ihe key that opened them again : and the beliew 
£rs in his attcnlng blood may enter into heaven 
itself with greater boldness, thai) the high priest 
when he went into the holiest of all, than the Le- 
•-, w hen ib*y officiated in the holy place, or than 
die people when they approached the outward court. 
A second thing which the tabernacle of Moses 
'■ piost »>n(U-',»btcdIv represent was the person and 



The Tabernacle in the Wilderness. 25 j 

futuve incarnation of the Messias himsel who was 
made flesh in the appointed time, and tabernacled a- 
mong us, and who spake of his own body when he 
said of the Jews, * ; Destroy this temple,, aricl I will 
" raise it up in three days*.** Was the tabernacle 
a work of heavenly architecture \ The human nature 
ef our Lord w r as prepared by his heavenly Father, 
&Tid curiously wrought, by the operation of the Ho-' 
ly Ghost, in the lower parts of the earth, Was it 
the habitation of the Deity I " In him dwells all the 
" fulness of the Godhead bodily .' 7 Was it anoint- 
ed with holy oil ? The most holy humanity of our 
Lord was anointed with the Spirit which God gave 
not by measure unto him, Was it embellished witjs 
a variety of ornaments ? He was adorned with eve- 
ry divine grace.- Was it taken down by the Ltvlz?s y 
and removed from place to place, till at last it was- 
conveyed to Jerusalem, where it remained is. the 
temple? The human nature of our Lord was dis- 
solved by death ; reared up again by his resurrec- 
tion; and lastly, translated into the heavenly ten> 
pie, which must contain him to the time of the res- 
titution of all things* Was the tabernacle the placf 
where God met with Israel ? Here he communed 
■with them ; here they presented their gats, and 
slew their sacrifices and even prayed with their 
faces towards it, though at the remotest distance. 
It is easy to see here a lively fi gare of the one JVle- 

* John ii, 1 9. f Col. U. 9 



253 TYPICAL PLACES. 

diator between God and man. In Christ alone we 
have a clear revelation of the divine will ; and by 
him must we present our spiritual sacrifices, and do 
in his name whatsoever we do, whether in word or 
deed. We shall only add, that as there were two 
apartments, the holy and the most holy place, which 
made, however, but one tabernacle : so in Christ 
there is a human nature, signified by the holy^place^ 
and a divine nature, represented by the holiest of 
sdl ; yet these two natures are mysteriously united 
in one person. 

The third and last thing prefigured by the taber* 
nacle, is the church, that holy society and mystical 
body of Jesus Christ, which in scripture-stile, is the 
house and temple of the living God, in which he 
dwells. We shall enumerate some of tfoe most 
glaring parallels between them. The tabernacle was 
planned by the wiedom of God himself, who con- 
descended to adjust the minutest particulars,, as the 
loops, the taches, and the pins, and peremptorily 
required, that all things should he done according 
to the original pattern. And who knows not, that 
all things in the gospel-church are planned by the 
same unerring wisdom, and how much the sove- 
reign Architect has testified his displeasure in eve- 
ry age against the invention of things pertaining to 
God ? u All that I commanded you, that shall ye 
" do ; ye shall not add, ye shall not diminish*.* 
This is the law, this is the prophets, and this is the 



The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, %?f 

doctrine of Christ and his apostles. The tabernacle 
was executed by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, 
tvho rested on Bezaleel and Aholiab, to fit them for 
this service, Without whom they were no more ca- 
pable of it than other men- It was the same Spirit 
that descended on the blessed apostles, the wise 
master-builders of the gospel-church, without which 
they could not have been qualified for the honoura* 
ble work. Yea, it is the Holy Ghost, who by his 
common gt'ftfc, makes ordinary ministers work man 
that need not be ashamed. The tabernacle was 
composed ©f very different materials, as gold, sil- 
ver, wood, brass, scarlet, blue, and purple clotlr 
fine linen, rams skins, badgers skins, and goats 
hair : yet all the different materials, combined by 
the workman's skill, conduced each in their kind 
to the beauty and perfection of the structure : and 
the gold could not say to the brass, nor the scarlet 
to the goats hair, " I have no need of you **" So 
in the spiritual house the materials of which it fe 
composed, that is the believers in Christ Jesus, are 
men of divers nations, different stations in life, un- 
like natural tempers, unequal gifts and graces, and 
various ministries : yet being fitly framed together 
by the operation of the Holy Ghost, they gro\r in- 
to a holy temple in the Lord. The symmetry of 
the ancient tabernacle, the nice coniunction of the 

boards by nxortisies and bars, and of the curtains 



* i Or» xii. &f# 



%% 



25S TYPICAL PLACES, 

by loops and taches, was not so delightful to the eye: 
of the body, as it is pleasant to the eye of the mind,, 
to see brethren dwelling together in unity, perfect- 
ly joined together in the same mind, andinthe same 
judgment, and carefully endeavouring to keep the 
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The tab* 
ernacle was covered with many coverings, with 
line twined linen, with blue, purple, and scarlet, 
with rams skins dyed red, with goats hair, with 
badgers kins. By this means it was rendered ex- 
tremely close, and finely protected from the inju- 
ries of the weather. May not this recal to our 
mind the ample protection and security of the gos- 
pel-church from the heat of God's anger, and from 
all worldly tribulations under the rich, the strong, 
and the broad purple covering of IrnmanuePs right- 
eousness ? For a the Lord is their keeper ; the 
44 Lord is their shade on their right hand : the sun 
44 shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by 
t4 night : the Lord will preserve them from all evil ; 
u the Lord will preserve their soul*." The taber- 
nacle was ornamented with gold and silver, and cii« 
rious embroideries ; and though without itVas not 
inelegant, it was, however, most magniftcient with- 
in.. Even so, the beauty of the gospel-sanctuary 
does not so much strike the eye of sense, that looks 
at the outward appcarence, as it is obvious to the 
spiritual sight, that looks at unseen things. Would'. 

•"Fiiil. exxi 5. 6. %, 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. &*■ 

vou discern the true glory of the spouse of Jesus 
Christ, look not at her face, because the sun hathu 
looked upon her ; but the king's daughter is all 
glorious within. The tabernacle was anointed with 
oil when Moses consecrated it r and the church has 
an unction from the holy one. The tabernacle was 
divided into several partitions. The outward court 
might denote the visible church ^ the holy place is 
.an emblem of the church invisible; and the holi- 
est of ail represents the church triumphant in glory, 
to which none are admitted but the royal priesthood. 
By baptism we enter into the first, by regeneration 
into the second, and by death into the third. O 
death, it is thine to pull aside the vail of mortality 
that interposes between the holy and the most holy 
place ? Happy they who enter by faith, and not by . 
a visible profession only, into his sanctuary, which, 
he has sanctified for evermore. For as there was* 
no possibility of coming at the holiest of all, but 
by passing through the holy place 5 even so it is iirw- 
possible, if we are not partakers of his holiness, to- 
be hereafter sharers of his glory. 

III. THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMOX. 

r~ PHE se lad last material habitation of JE'-* 

HOV AH was the temple, which Solomon, that 
paagnificient monarch, reared upon the hill Moriah 
lb Jer ti, the metropolis of his kingdom, to> 

the honour of the God of Israeli Th^ plan o£ s£ 



$60 TYPICAL PLACES. 

was dictated by the Spirit unto his father David,, 
v ho was prohibited from executing it himself, he* 
cause of the bloody wars he had waged in the course 
of his life. The workmen were partly Israelites? 
and partty Gentiles of Tyre. The materials were 
the best trees, the most precious metals, and large 
hewn stone, prepared and fitted for one another be- 
fore they were laid upon the foundation, that the 
noise of axes and hammers might not be heard as 
the building rose.* The structure itself was sixty 
cubits long, twenty broad, and thirty cubits high, 
and, like the tabernacle, consisted of two apart • 
ments the holy, and the most holy place, or ora- 
cle. You entered this temple on the east by a state- 
ly porch, which was higher than the edifice itself by 
ninety cubits, and may be considered as the steeple 
of that sacred palace. The length of this porch was 
equal to the breadth of the principal house, and the 
breadth was the half of that length. Here stood the 
two famous brazen pillars, w T hose names were Ja- 
chin and Boaz, that is stability and strength ; tho' 
they were placed there, not for the support, but for 
the ornament of the house. Two open courts sur- 
rounded the whole fabric, and side-chambers were 
built round about against the wall. A row of nar- 
row windows that sloped within, illuminated the 
dome. The strength and beauty of God's sanctum 
rere the main things that distinguished this fi»* 

*i Kin&s vi. 7c 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. pi 

jshcd piece of architecture : for the dimensions wer£ 
far from being wide,but it was supported by a strong 
foundation of large and costly stones, and ornament- 
ed within in the most splendid manner, with planks 
©f cedar, plates of gold, glittering diamonds, and 
figures of palm-trees and cherubims. This was that 
holy and beautiful house which the Chaldeans were 
permitted to demolish for the first time, and the 
JRomans for the second time, a thousand years af* 
ter the first foundation was laid* Seventeen hu&* 
dred years have now elapsed since the final desola* 
tion of this solemn temple, which nevermore shall 
rise beneath the builder's hand : for it is the will of 
God, that in every place, and not in Jerusalem a* 
lone, he should be worshipped in spirit and i& 
truth. 

As the temple of Solomon was built for the same 
end with the tabernacle of Moses, without all doubt 
the typical meaning of the one and the other was al- 
so the same. Was the tabernacle a figure of heav- 
en, of Christ, and of the church f So also was the 
temple. It was a figure of heaven, the glorious hab- 
itation of God and angels, where the righteous-— 
flourish like the palm-trees that were carved on th* 
walls ; — serve him continually, like the priests that 
entered into the sanctuary ; — and go no more out, 
being established for ever, like the pillars that gra- 
ced the porch of that holy place. And as the stones 
which Solomon used were all hewn and prepared 
before they were brought there ; so all the stones o£ 



262 TYPICAL PLACED 

the celestial house, or the members of the triunv* 
phant church, are afore prepared unto glory. Now 
is the time when their natural roughness and asper- 
ity is taken away by the skilful operation of the di- 
tine Spirit, and the various afflictions of this life*, 
which exercise them in this vail of tears, that they 
may rest for ever, and ever in the calm regions of 
everlasting peace, where no jarring sound is heard,- 
any more than there was of axes and hammers in 
the building of the temple. It was also a figure of 
the humanity of the Messiah, who spak^ of the tem- 
ple pf his body, when he said^ " Destroy this tem- 
u pie, and in thee days I will rake it up."* But, 
without resuming what has been already hinted oa 
this head, let us only further observe, that the tem- 
ple was, equally as the tabernacle, a figure of that- 
holy society the churchy which is his body, whe« 
ther we consider the plan, the materials, the work- 
men, or the building itself. 

The plan of the temple was designed by God no 
less than that of the tabernacle. Nor could any wis- 
dom inferior to divine, have adjusted the model of 
the spiritual house, which the angels admire. The 
materials were prepared, and the stones fitted to out 
another, before they were compacted together, so 
that noisy tools were wholly unnecessary as the 
building arose. An expressive emblem this of tha t 
peaceful harmony which ought to reign among, th* 

* John ii i. 9- 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 261 

Guilders of the church as they carry on this holf 
work, and which would be easily attained, if non€ 
but polished lively stones, or persons duly qualified 
were admitted to become a part of this fabric. The 
workmen were Gentiles of Tyre, as well as Israel- 
ites* Was not this a prelude of the future vocation 
of the Gentiles, that even the sons of the strangers, 
and those that were afar off, should bear apart i& 
building the walls of the gospel-church ? 

Chiefly let us consider the building itself, II 
was supported by a strong foundation. What should 
this be bi the antitype but Jesus Christ, the fouru 
dation which God hath laid in Zion, on which all 
the apostles and prophets have built themselves and 
others from the beginftitijg of the world, h to which 
alone the church is m . /: :. ?or that unshaken sta- 
bility which laughs at all opposition ? It was illurni* 
nated with many windows. For the church is a 
lightsome house, in which the true light shines. It 
was surrounded v. ith side chambers. Emblems of 
the different, visible churches, which belong to Hi§ 
lame universal body. It was adorned with, gold 
and cedar and its very floor was crusted with the 
most precious metal. This may remind us of the 
invisible glory of the church, where the meanest of- 
fice is honourable, and the meanest member ex.- 
llent. It was graved with crerubims and palm- 
|tree£. This may denote the ministry of angels m 
:he church, and the eternal verdure of all that are 
ilanted in the house of the l-qrd. It was fronted 



064 TYPICAL PLACES. 

with pillars. Though ill, alas I did they answer 
their name. Where was their s:ability, where was 
their strength, when the Chaldeans carried them 
.away? But ihDugh the pillars of heaven tremble, 
the pillars oi the church shall stand, and thus the- 
ious promise runs to every the meanest beliey* 
er $ - : . h, I will make him a 

* illar in the te : and he shall go no 

* m re out.?'? Jtwa* he Deity, and 
a hou:;e of pi xyjffr fj6r all [ urcb 
are the visible tokens u: the 

holiness becomes it forever, shed 

with cosily furniture. An- in ; ihe 

gospcl-chuvcQ reaJly possesses 8,11 .-vusils 

of the ancient temple* But mis must be more 
largely declared,, 

FIRST, THE ORDINANCE OF THE ARK 
AND MERCY-SEAT. 

WHERE should we begin in enemerating; 
the holy utensils and furniture of the taber* 
nacle and temple, but with the sicred chest, com* 
monly called the ark,t sometimes the ark of his 
strength J the ark of the covenant, jj the ark of the 
testimony, $ and the ark whose name is called by 
the name of th< Gol of Israrl ?^j Well may we es- 
teem it the heart of the worl Hy sanctuary. It was 
ihe firs h >ly implement the inspired artist Bezaleel 

• Hi'. I 22. f J rt »h iv. ii. t Psa ^ cxxxii. 8. 
BNumb. *. 33. SExod, s*vi. 34- ? Sam. yl 2. 



The ordinance of the Ark and Mercy-seat. 265 

formed, and resided in the most venerable apart- 
ment of the holy places made with hands. Its di- 
mensions were small, but its materials were rich 
and magnificient. It was made of the best cedar or 
Shittim-wood, and overlaid with pure gold both 
within and without. It was edged round with a 
border or coronet, and covered above with a lid of 
the same precious metal, called the mercy-seat. 
For the convenience of carnage from place to place, 
in the ambulatory state of their common-wealth, 
there were fastened to its four corners so many gol- 
den rings, into which they put staves of Shittim- 
wood, overlaid w r ith gold, that were never taken 
out, but suffered to remain even after the arkrested 
in the temple, and ceased to be a burden to the 
Levites. Within this splendid chest were deposit- 
ed the two tables of stone that w r ere hewed bv Bio- 
ses, and inscribed with the finger of God, after the 
first were broken. Before it (as is most probable) 
were laid up the miraculous bread, that was preser- 
ved in a pot, and the miraculous rod of Aaron, that 
blossomed and brought fort fruit. The first was a 
standing memorial of the choice regard of Heaven 
to the whole nation of Israel : and the last w T as a 
perpetual sign of his favour to the priestly tribe of 
Levi, and family of Aaron. Above it two cheru- 
bims of beaten gold, arising out of the two ends of 
the mercy-seat, and looking towards it and one an- 
other, streched out their wings. Besides these 
small cherubims, there were ether two of gigantic 

Y 



266 TYPICAL PLACES* 

stature, which Solomon reared up in the most holy 
place of the temple. But their precise shape is 
perhaps impossible for us, at this distant of time 
certainly to be defined. This was that venerable 
utensil which it was death to touch or look into, un* 
less by the persons appointed for that purpose. The 
sudden fate of Uzzah, and the severe correction of 
the men of Bethshemish, are dreadful instances of 
its vengeance. When Israel marched through the 
wilderness, the ark is said to have gone before, and 
explored a place of rest for the congregation. The 
parted wave of Jordan, and the falling walls of Jer- 
icho, confessed its power. Once it w as a prisoner 
in a Heathen temple ; but, Palestine, short as your 
victory, small was your cause of triumph ! Soon 
were the proud enemies obliged to refound their 
spoil, and Dagon could neither defend himself nor 
his worshippers from perpetual infamy. Once it 
blessed the house of Obed-edom. But at last, af- 
ter many removals, the splendidtemple of Solomon 
received it for several ages where, as is most likely, 
it perished in the common ruin ©f that holy and 
beautiful house. But the subject of our present in 
quiry, is the mystic signification of that sacred in 
strument, for the reception of which, both the tab 
ernacle was reared up, and the temple built. 

And, first, it was a visible representation of the 
throne of JEHOVAH, the King of Israel, whose 

v-il palace was the temple. The law in the mic 
#£ the ark, on which he sat, signified the equity of 



The ordinance of the Ark and Mercy-seat, 26? 

his government, or that justice and judgment are 
the habitation of his throne. The chei ubims at 
both ends of the mercy-seat, were doubtless emble- 
metical figures of the blessed elect angels that sur- 
round his throne, and fly swiftly to execute hi s high 
commands. The geld of which they were framed* 
may signify the purity of their essence. The num- 
ber two, may perhaps denote the perfect harmony, 
and mutual love of the innumerable company of an- 
gels. The position of their faces towards each oth- 
er, may intimate the same thing. The adoring at- 
titude of their bodies, may represent the profound 
veneration they have for their eternal Sovereign, 
And theirfiving posture, (for their wings were ei* 
panded, & touched one another,) did surely indicate 
the expeditious alacrity with which they fulfil the 
heavenly commissions. 

It was also a repository for the tables of the law* 
which were the instrument of that solemn covenant 
made betwixt God and the peculiar people, (an em- 
blem of the covenant of Adam); and hence it was 
a perpetual pledge of the divine favour arid protec" 
i to their nation, if they fulfilled their obligations 
to the king of heaven ; and a witness against them, 
ii they should prove unfaithful. The gold and ce- 
dar was a fit emblem of the invaluable worth, the 
sportiest purity, and perpetual duration of the in- 
closed law. In imitation of this ordinance of the 
God of Jacob, the sacred chests of the Heathen 



268 TYPICAL PLACES. 

seem to have been invented, to contain the holy 
books or mysteries of their superstition. 

But especially, it may be considered as a figure 
of Jesus Christ, the promised Messias, whom all 
the holy things seem to have pointed out with one 
consent. There will appear to be no contemptible 
likeness betwixt him and this most holy vessel, if we 
attend unto the following things : the materials of 
which it was framed ; the depositum which it con* 
tained ; its ornaments ; its uses ; its virtues ; and, 
lastly, its removals from one place to another, till 
it rested in the temple. 

The materials of the ark were cedar and geld. 
What hinders us from this to think upon the consti" 
tution of his wonderful person, whose humanity is 
like the cedar, the fruit of the earth, but not subject 
to corruption : and his divinity, like gold in the 
surk, embosoms his human nature, ennobles, but 
is not blendid with it ? — The depositum it contain- 
ed, was the second tables of the law ; for the first 
tables were broken before. In Jesus Christ we may 
see thatlaw which we had broke prescrvedinviolate, 
and perfectly fulfilled in the immaculate obedience 
of his holy life, who says of himself, " I delightto 
k< do thy will, O God, th) law is within my heart*. 1 ! 
— Its ornaments were the border of gold resem- 
bling a crown ; which reminds us of the Messiah's 
r<: gal dignity 5 and the cherubims of glory, which 
signified, say some, the two natures of that glorious 

• Pial. iL 2. 



The ordinance of the Ark and Mercy-scat.. 269 

person who was signified by the whole workmanship j 
says others, the twofold church of jews and Gen- 
tiles : but rather they were emblems of the angels, 
these bright and glorious creatures, who are sup- 
ported in their happy state by Jesus Christ, as th* 
cherubim s were by the ark ; — who desire to look 
into the mystery of man's redemption, and pry into 
it with the most unwearied attention, the most sub. 
lime satisfaction, the highest wonder, and the pro* 
foundest adoration; & who are all ministering spirits, 
ascending & descending upon the Son of man. The 
uses of the ark were various & important. Here God 
was enthroned. So God is in Christ reconciling thd 
world unto himself. Here the law was covered 
from all eyes. So Jesus Christ, our true propitia- 
tory, interposes himself betwixt us and that con* 
demning law, which never fails to curse and kill all 
who presume to meddle with it, but as fulfilled in 
him ; for when the commandment comes without 
him who fulfilled it, sin will revive, and, like the 
men of .Bethshemish, we will die*— Here oracles 
were given, and u Here, 5 ' said God to Moses, 
a will I meet with thee, and commune with thee> 
" from between the cherubims before the mercy- seat, 
" upon the ark of the testimony*.' 5 So Christ is the 
meeting place of God with man, in whom he deigns 
to reveal his gracious will and pleasure to the fallen 
creature : hence is he called " the World of God t *' 
and is said to declare God the Father, who neveip 

* Exod. xxy. 22. t Kev. xix. 13. 

¥ a 



270 TYPICAL PLACES. 

can be seen by any man. And lastly, here prayers* 
were presented, and offerings were accepted : for 
the most holy Israelite durst not approach the pre- 
sence of JEHOVAH, but as he sat upon the mer- 
cy seat sprinkled with blood. Nor could the holiest 
Christian presume to hope for the acceptance of his 
best duties, were it not for the mercy of God in 
Christ Jesus. — The virtues of the ark are such as 
these. It searched out a resting place for Israel in 
the wilderness. So Christ is tohis people the break- 
er of their way, who goes before them, gives them 
rest, and prepares for them a place. It opened a 
pas age for the ransomed tribes through the river 
Jordan. O Jesus, by thee we safely pass through 
the Jordan of death, and have abundant entrance 
ministered into the heavenly kingdom, because these 
waters shall not overflow them who have his presence 
with them, according tohis promise I It overturn- 
ed the walls of Jericho, when carried round them 
seven days. So shall the wails of Babylon fall, and 
every high thing that exalts itself against God, be 
cast down by the preaching of his gospel, who is the 
power of God, and wisdom of God- It overthrew 
Dagon of the Philistines in his own temple, maimed 
his brute image, and utterly abolished that mon- 
strous idol. So shall he that sits in the temple of 
God, and shews himself that he is God, be destroy- 
ed by the spirit of his mouth, and brightness of his 
coming. It sanctified the places to which it came, 
m the opinion oi Solomon hlms-lf % and blessed the 



The ordinance of the Ark and Mercy-seat. 271 

house of Obed-edom, where it transiently resided. 
It is the presence of Christ that makes us holy and 
happy ; and in him we are blessed with every spir- 
itual blessing. — The removals of the ark from placp 
to place in the wilderness, and in Canaan, till it 
rested in the temple, shall we say, bear some faint 
resemblance to the humbled Redeemer, going a- 
bout doing good while he was upon the earth, until 
the everlasting doors of heaven were opened to re- 
ceive him r Or, was the bearing of the ark about 
upon the shoulders of the Levites, a figure of the 
ministers of Christ bearing his name among the 
Gentiles, in all the corners of the world ? The 
slaves remained always in the ark ; perhaps to in- 
timate, that no place or nation is absolutely secure 
against his departure from them, who have no suit- 
able esteem for his gracious presence with them, in 
the dispensation of the eternal word. 



It is long since the Babylonians destroyed this 
glory of Israel ; but we have an ark whereunto they 
have no right to approach who serve the tabernacle. 
John saw it in the heavenly temple. The Old-Tes- 
tament ark, like the covenant it confirmed, is van- 
ished away. But the New-Testament Ark, in 
whom the new covenant stands fast, shall abide for 
ever in the presence of JEHOVAH. Nor is it 
death for any to look into this ark ; for the W< rd 
of life was looked upon with the eyes, and handled 
with the hands of men. Let it be our one and chief 



i 



2n TYPICAL PLACES. 

desire, that all the days of our life we may abide i* 
his house, behold his beauty, and enquire in his 
temple. 

SECONDLY, THE ORDINANCE OF 
THE GOLDEN TABLE. 

THE table of the shew-bread was a principal 
part of the apparatus of the middle court or 
sanctuary, and a piece of very nice and costly work_ 
manship. Like the ark, it was made of gold and 
cedar, ornamented with a golden border and crown, 
furnished with golden rings for carriage, and with 
golden dishes and other necessary utensils. On 
this pure table were laid twelve loaves, according to 
the number of tribes. They were made of fine 
flour, and piled up in two rows, crowned with 
frankincense. Thus they stood continually before 
the Lord, but were renewed every sabbath morning j. 
and the stale bread was to be eaten by none but the 
priests in the holy place. 

As to -he meaning of this service, perhaps it was 
a continual thank-offering, whereby the Israelites 
testified their gratitude for the fine wheat of Canaan. 
But it seems likewise no contemptible figure of 
Christ Jesus, both personal and mystical \ which is 
to be now declared. 

And, first, it seems to represent Christ Jesus 
himself. It was a golden table, to denote his most 
invaluable worth, who is precious to them that b%- 



The ordinance of the golden Table. 375 

lieve. It was a crowned table, to signify his roy- 
al dignity, and the royal dainties wherewith he 
feeds his people, who eat the bread of the mighty. 
It was a moveable table : for the dispensations of 
his gospel is not confined to any prticular spot of 
earth, but has been frequently removed from one 
place to another. It was a furnished table, furnish- 
ed both with provisions and vessels. In Christ we 
have all things pertaining to life and godliness ; for 
" it hath pleased the Father, that in him all fullness 
should dwell*." 

But let us consider the provision wherewith 
this table was loaded, and w T e shall see how fitly 
it quaclrades to Jesus Christ. — It was covered with 
loaves or bread. What bread is to the body that 
Christ is to the soul, that is — the staff of life. Like 
bread, he is of the most universal use, of the most 
absolute necessity, arid prepared for our spiritual 
food by various suffering's, as bread-corn is bruised* 
The loaves were fine flour. Jesus Christ is th* 
finest of wheat, in whom there w T as found no bran 
of corruption, being holy, harmless, undefiled, and 

separated from sinners. They were twelve 

in number, for every tribe a loaf. There is 
enough in Christ to supply the wants of his people, 
who may say, " Out of his fulness have we ail re- 
ceivedt.' 5 — They were continually present before 
th: Lord. Jesus Christ is the Angel of his pres- 
ence, who appears before the Lord continually as 

* Col. i. 19. f John i. i6» 



274 TYPICAL PLACES. 

the representative of Israel.— They were crowned 
with frankincense. This is an emblem of the ac- 
ceptableness of his sacrifice and intercession, or of 
their sweet-smelling savour unto God. — They were 
renewed every Sabbath morning by the priests. 
For the doctrine of Jesus Chrict, or the spiritual 
provision exhibited on the table of the gospel, in or- 
der that it may prove always palatable to the 
hearers, the ministers of the word ought, as the 
legal priests, to renew it every Sabbath ; not in* 
deed by preaching novel doctrines, but by cloathing 
old truths in a new dress, or, to use the expression 
of our Lord, u bringing out of their treasury things 
new and old*." By this means the attention will be 
fed, weariness relieved, and appetite increased.—*. 
They were eaten by the priests in the holy place, 
after they were removed from the presence-table* 
So Christ the bread of God must be eaten, that is, 
believed in, that we may receive from him both 
life and strength. The ministers of the gospel must 
feed on the same Christ whom they exhibited unto 
others ; and all the saints are that royal priesthood, 
whose privilege it is to eat this brer.d of God. And 
if others are admitted to the most holy ordinances, 
the table of the Lord is contemptible indeed. I shall 
only add, that unless this heavenly bread had first 
presented unto the Lord, he would not been present- 
ed to men as food to the hungry soul. 

• Matth, xiii. 52. 



The ordinance of the golden Table. 2f£ 

Let us now consider the shew bread 1 as an em- 
blem of the church which is his body, of which 
it is said, " We being many are one bread * " In- 
deed the number of the loaves, corresponding to 
the number of the tribes, did certainly intimate, that 
they represented the Israel of God. Christ 13 that 
corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died, 
that he might nor abide alone ; and from him be- 
lievers grow as their parent-root* Christ is that gol- 
den table that continually supports and presents them 
before the Lord. They were crowned with frank, 
incense ; for their prayers are directed to Gcd as 
incense; and the intercession of jtsus Christ per- 
sumes at once their person and work?, as with all 
the powders of the merchant. They were disposed 
in two regular rows ; which may denote the come- 
ly order of the churches. The were renewed erery 
week ; so one generation of Christians succeeds an- 
other. Or perhaps we may take occasion to think, 
how- distasteful unto God are stale and moudly pro- 
fessors, who have left their first love, and are, like 
Ephraim, as cakes not turned. They were, last 8 * 
iy, to be eaten by the priests. May we be alio. red 
thus to allegorize this last particular ? When the 
faithful have served their generation , and are re- 
moved from further usefulness in this world., they 
are not rejected as useless altogether, but ihey be- 
come the inheritance of Jesus Christ, the true priest; 

* 1 Cor. k, i?» 



Hre TYPICAL PLACES. 

as the the old bread was not cast away, but fed up* 
on by the typical priesthood in the holy place. 

THIRDLY, THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
GOLDEN CNADLESTICK. 

OVER against the table there was a golden can- 
dlestick s.n on the north side, that the sanc- 
tuary might never be dark. It consisted of a large 
stalk, with five branches, and every branch was 
inthree different places adorned with a bowl like art 
almond, a knop, and a flower. The tongs and 
6nuff-disru s were pure gold, as the candlestick itself. 
At the extremities of the stalk and branches were 
seven lanv s ; which were fed with pure olive-oil, and 
lighted every eren'ng by the priesis, who burned 
incense at the same time. 

Was not this an emblem of the true light that 
lighteth every man that cometh into the wodd? Not 
only is Jesus Crrist, in many texts of scripture, re, 
sembled unto the tight of the sun, but it is said in 
one place, " Thou art my lamp, O Lord and the 
" Lord will enlighten my daryness*.*' The pure 
beaten gold of this candlestick may denote the sp..rt« 
less hdrhu ss and the invaluable worth of Jesus, who 
was beaten, if wc may so speek, with the hammer of 
adversuy, and made perfect through suffering. The 
oil that nourished the lamps, is an emblem ofthe Holy 
Ghost, that anointed him to pearch glad tidings to 

• 2 Sam. */-ii. 19. 



The ordinance of the golden Candlestick. 27? 

the meek. The number of the lamps, which was 
seven, imports the perfection of his light. The 
sanctuary where they shone, is the church ; and the 
priests that trimmed them, are the ministers of the 
gospel, whose office is to elucidate the mystery of 
Christ. The light which was shed all around frora 
this candlestick, may represent the light of theknowl- 
edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus, which 
shines into the hearts of all the royal priesthood; cr 
the 15ght of the scriptures, which are the rays of 
Jesus Christ, and to which we do well to take heed, 
as to the light that shineth in a dark place. 

That the golden candlestick was also a figure of 
the church, will appear very probable, when we 
consider, that Zacharias, an Old-Testament propria 
et, saw, in the vissions of God, as her emblem, a 
golden candlestick, supplied with golden oil from 
two olive trees ; and John, a New- Testament apos- 
tle, when he was in the Spirit^ beheld our great 
Hight Priest in sacerdotal robes, walking in the midst 
of the seven golden candlesticks, which were the seven 
Asian churches. But let us, for further proof y ob- 
serve the likeness of this sacred utensil to the whole 
and every particular church. 

We shall first, consider the candlestick itself. * 

Its use was to receive the materials of the light, and 
then to spread it abroad. Even so the church re* 
ceives the truth in the first place ; and then holds it 
forth* by purity of doctrine, and sanctity of life, 

Z > 



grs TYPICAL PLACES. 

Its matter was pure and beaten gold. The church 
may be a lamp despised in the thoughts of worldly 
men, and esteemed as an earthen pitcher ; yet in 
the eyes of the Lord she is comparable to fine gold. 
O how the gold becomes dim in the presence of faith 
and holiness ! She is pure gold, being purged from 
the dross of reigning corruption, by the blood, by 
the Spirit, and by the word of Christ. She is bea- 
ten gold, being partaker of the afflictions of the gos- 
pel. By these means she is a vessel made meet for 
the Master's use. For shape, it was divided into 
six branches, united by one common stalk. This 
signifies*the coalition of all true churches and sound 
believers into one great society, which is founded 
upon their common relation to Jesus Christ, the 
center of union. The ornaments of almonds, knops 
and flowers, which decorated all the branches, may 
denote the various gifts and graces with which every 
church should be adorned, that she may with great- 
er dignity hold forth the word cf life. The tongs 
and snuff-dishes were not more necessary appenda- 
ges to the golden candlestick, than church-censures, 
and brotherly admonitions, are to every society of 
Christians, fiy means of these instruments the 
lamps burned clear, and the floor of the holy place 
was not sullied. So the discipline of the church is 
pn excellent mean to preserve the lamp of the gospel 
light From dimness, and the temple of the Lord 
from defilement, by the superfluity of naughtiness. 

J h :\ burning in the seven lamps of the candle- 



The ordinance of the golden Candlestick. 279 

stick, is an emblem of the Holy Ghost, in his vari- 
ous gifts, who resides in the church ; is compared 
unto oil, and unto fire : and of whom the apostle 
John speaks in this enigmetical manner, when he 
saw the visions of the Almighty, " And there were 
"seven lamps of fire burning before the throne* 
u which are the seven spirits of God**" So much 
for the candlestick itself. 

Let us now glance at the ministry of the priests 
about this holy vessel. They were to supply it with 
oil, to trim the lamps, and lightthem every evening, 
and to burn incense at the same time. Might not 
this signify the watchful care of the minister of the 
sanctuary and true tabernacle, who walks in the 
midst of the seven golden candlesticks, imparts un- 
to them all necessary supplies of the heavenly unc- 
tion, quenches not the smoaking flax, but strength* 
ens the things that remain, and are ready to die ; 
while at the same time he oilers unto God the great- 
ful incense of his prevalent intercession in their be- 
half? And may it not further adumbrate the duty 
and office of all the ministers of the gospel, who, in 
the evening of the world, are to light the lamp or- 
dained for God's Anointed ? u They shall teach 
*'• Jacob thy judgments, O Lord, and Israel thy 
u law : they shall put incense before thee, and whole 
" hurnt-oiFerings upon thine altart." It is their 
province, while they direct unto God the incense 
of fervani pray, to make their lamps burn clear, by 

* Rev. iv. 5. J Deut. xxxiii. 10. 



sso TYPICAL PLACES, 

supplying them with the oil of pure doctrine, aricl 
trimming them with the tongs of wholesome disci- 
pline, and salutary admonition, u For Zion's sake 
a let them not hold their peace, and for Jerusalem's 
Xl sake let them not rest, till the righeousness there- 
" of go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof 
" as a lamp that burnetii* n 



-i • 



FOURTHLY, THE ORDINANCE OF 
THE GOLDEN ALTAR, 

TN the inner part of the sanctuary, there stood a 
■*■ four square altar of Shittim-wood, overlaid with 
gold. It was encompassed with a golden crown, 
furnished with golden rings for carriage, like the 
ark and table of She w-bread, and graced with four 
golden horns at its four corners. To this secret al- 
tar none but the priests were to approach ; not to 
♦>ffer propitiatory sacrifices, as upon the altar of burnt- 
offering, but to burn incense of sweet spices morn- 
ing and evening before the Lord. The confection 
of this sacred prefume is minutely prescribed, with 
sl strict prohibition of imitating it for any other use. 
It was a figure of the intercession of the great High 
Priest before the throne, as the altar of burnt-offer- 
ing was a figure of his satisfactory obligation upon 
the earth. Let us first attend unto the altar, and 
next unto the incense. 

The altar itself was, first, a golden crowned altar; 
which signifies the glorious dignity of the royal In- 

• Is. Ixii. I. 



The ordinance of the golden Altar. 281 

tercessor, who is a priest upon his throne, and is 
set down on the right hand of the heavenly Majes- 
ty. — It was a square attar, equally respecting the 
four corners of the world ; to denote how accessible 
he is to all the ends of the earth. — It was a moveable 
altar, capable of being transported where-ever the 
church of Israel went : an emblem of his perpetu- 
al presence in all places where his name is recorded, 
or where his people are afflicted. A jail, an isle of 
Patmos, a lion's den, a fish's belly, a fiery furnace •> 
are all alike to him, who never leaves, never for* 
takes his chosen, and his called. — It was a hidden 
altar, to which none approached except the sons of 
Levi. To know Christ as their interceding Priest, 
is the distinguished priviledge of all the royal priest- 
hood. These only see him by faith, whom the 
world seeth no more. But as the way to the golden 
altar of incense was to pass by the brazen altar of 
burnt-offering ; so none can come to Jesus, as ever- 
living to make intercession for them, who come 
not to him as dying once to atone for their guilt, 
and put away their sin by the sacrifice of himself. — =■ 
It was a horned altar. And whatshould these four 
horns at its four corners portend, but the strength 
and prevalence of his intercession, whom the Fa- 
ther heareth always, and who is able to save unto 
the uttermost all who come unto God by him, from 
the four winds of heaven ? — It was an altar stained 
with blood : for though no sacrifices for expiation 
were offered upon it, yet Aaron was commanded 

Z % 



282 TYPICAL PLACES. 

to jfip its horns every year with the blood of the a* 
tenements. The blood of Jesus Christ the righteous 
is the strength of his advocacy. This blood pre* 
sented for ever before the throne of God, enforces 
aU his suits with louder cries than ever the blood 
of Abel sent from the ground, imploring vengeance 
on the first murderer. 

Prom the altar, let us come to the incense burn- 
ed upon it. It represents both the merits of Jesu* 
Christ, and the prayer of all saints. 

The merits of Jesus Christ is that incense in which 
the prayers, and tears, and works of all the saints 
are clad, and wherein they ascend like Manoah's 
angel, before the presence of JEHOVAH — That 
incense was composed of sweet spices, that shed a 
rich perfume ; but not so grateful to men as the 
sweet-smelling sacrifice ol Christ was savoury unto 
God — That incense was burned in the sanctuary, 
while the people were praying without. The ap- 
pearing of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctua- 
ry with the sweet odour of his merits, by no means 
supercedes the prayers of saints on earth. u For 
these things will God be, 5 ' not only solicited by 
the intercession of his Son, but " inquired of by the 
house of Israel, " that he may do it for them*." — • 
Than incense was continually burned before the 
Lord, and was a perpetual incense throughout their 
generations. The intercession of Jesus Christ is 
everlasting, because he ever liveth. Never, never 

• Ezck xaxvi. 37. 



Tbe ordinance of the golden Altar. 283 

shall it be discontinued, till all its ends are fully 
reached, and the last elect vessel be prayed home to 
glory. — That incense was not to be counterfeited, 
or imitated for any other purpose, Detested be 
the impiety of that harlot -church, who confides in 
the merits of any saint, living or dead, ascribing, 
on whatsoever pretence, the Mediator's glory to 
another. But the time approaches, when this 
counterfeit incense, the commodity of Babylon, 
shall no more be bought by the merchants of the 
earth. 

The prayers of saints are also said to be directed 
as incense before the Lord, and are resembled to 
odours preserved in vails of gold, by a New-Tes- 
tament writer. Prayer is that incense, which, ac- 
cording to Malichi's prediction, shall be offered to 
the name of the Lord in every place. Was the holj 
incense compounded of various sweet spices ? The 
graces of the Holy Ghost are the precious ingredi. 
ents in the effectual prayer of the righteous. Some 
of them were beaten very small j prehaps to inti- 
mate, that brokenness of heart, and contrition of 
spirit, which the high and lofty One requires in the 
worshippers at his foot stooL — The fire that burned 
the incense, may denote the fervency of spirit re- 
quired in acceptable worship. — But take heed ofthe 
sparks of your kindling, and lift up the holy hands 
without wrath : for the incense must not be kindled 
with fire from the kitchen but the altar. — Was the 
incense burned morning and evening continually i 



284 TYPICAL PLACES. 

And can we reasonably think the incense of prayer 
and praise should be less frequently addressed to the 
God that dwells in the heavens ? Jesus Christ is the 
altar &the Priest who stands with his golden eenser; 
by him your incense of praise, shall go up for a me- 
morial before God, and meet with gracious accep- 
tance. Without him even incense is an abomina- 
tion unto God ; any the most solemn duties are a 
smoke in his nostrils, and a fire that burneth all the 
day, 

FIFTHLY, THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
BRAZEN ALTAR. 

LET us next consider the altar of burnt-offering 
which was a chief part of the holy furniture 
both of the tabernacle and temple. Its materials 
were brass and cedar-wood ; its shape foursquare ; 
its station was in the outward court. It protected 
criminals that fled unto it, sanctified gifts, and ali- 
mented the priests. It was ornamented with four 
horns of brass flourishing from its corners, and up- 
on it the sacred fire was kept perpetually alive. The 
ceremonies of its consecration lasted for seven days ; 
& it is called by God an altar most holy, that should 
impart a legal holiness to everything that touched it. 
In ordinary case it was not lawful to offer sacrifices 
upon any other altar but this alone. 

That Jesus Christ is the antitype of this altar, the 
apostle to the Hebrews permits us not to doubt \ for> 



The ordinance of the brazen Altar. 285 

speaking of him, he says, "We haveanaltar, where- 
" of they have no right to eat who serve the taber- 
" nacle*." He says not, altars, as if they were 
many, but an altar, speaking of one ; and this altar 
is Christ. As the intercession of Jesas Christ was 
tvpified by the golden altar of incense, so the altar 
of burnt- offering represented both his satisfaction ia 
general, and his Godhead in particular. Let us be- 
gin with the first. 

It represented the person of our Redeemer,, as 
the propitiation for our sin3. It was a brazen altar. 
Was it not the same glorious person whom Ezekiel 
saw like a man of brass, with a line of flax in his 
hand to measure the temple ; and whose feet are 
described, in the visions of John, like fine brass, as if 
they burned in a furnace ? Brass is a cheep and com- 
mon metal. When by himself he purged our sins, 
he shone not with golden lustre ; for his visage was 
marred more than any man's, and his form than the 
sons of men. Brass is a strong metal, and fit to en- 
dure the fire. Our strength was not the strength 
of stones, our flesh was not of brass, to dwell with 
devouring fire, to abide with everlasting burnings ■: 
but Christ was the might}' One, who felt the power 
of God's anger, and was not devoured by the fiery 
indignation. — It was a horned altar. This signi- 
fies the strength of his atonement, both to satisfy the 
justice of God, and pacify the consciences of men. 
—It was a four square altar; an emblem of his per- 

* Heb. xiii. 10. 



286 TYPICAL PLACES. 

petual stability, who is the same to day, yesterday, 
and for ever — It was a public altar. For the death 
of Christ was to be a transaction of the most public 
kind — It was a burning altar, on which the fire never 
went oat. The Holy Ghost is that eternal Spirit of 
judgment and of burning, through whom he offered 
up himself unto God, and who dwells for ever in 
the Son. With this holy fire the great High Pries £ 
inflamed his legal sacrifice of atonement ; and with 
this holy fire the royal priesthood ought to kindle 
their moral sacrifice of praise, which they offer by him 
continually. — It was an only altar, and by the laws 
of Moses, admitted not any rival. So Jesus Christ 
is the one Mediator between God and man. To 
multiply mediators is no less condemned by the 
New-Testament, than to multiply altars by the Old, 
— It was an altar most holy that sanctified all gifts. 
Whether we present unto God the meat-offering of 
alms, the drink offering of tears, the peace-offering 
of thanksgiving, the heave-offering of prayer, or the 
whole bui\it-oifering of body and soul, by him alone 
they are sanctified and accepted, as the altar sanc- 
tified the gift. — It was an altar that protected crimi- 
nals who fled unto it; though, for some crimes, they 
were to be dragged from it to suffer condign punis- 
ment. In Jesus Christ the guilty sinner finds a ref- 
uge from legal condemnation ; nor can they fail of 
making peace with him, who by faith take hold of 
his strength, be their crimes ever so attrocious. — • 

It was an altar that nourished the Levitical priest- 



The ordinance of the brazen Altar. 287 

hood who served at it, and were partakers with it. 
Even so the happy persons who are made priests: un- 
to God, and partakers of Christ, receive from him, 
not a natural, but a spiritual and eternal life : " For 
he thateateth me," himself declares, " shall live by 
me*-" 

But in a particular manner his Deity see ms fit to 
be called the altar on which he offered his humanity : 
for he was his own altar no less than ours. It was 
not the wooden cross on which he died, that served 
him for an altar. Far less can the material table on 
which the holy memorials are exhibited in the sa- 
crament of the sapper, deserve any such glorious 
epithet. Hear what himself says aboutthe altar, and 
the gift. u Ye fools and blind : for whether is 
greater the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth 
the gifttj" Will any dare to say, that the 
wooden cross was greater than the soul and body of 
the Redeemer who expired on it ? cr that the table 
of the supper is greater than the consecrated sym- 
bols of his body and blood ? If it be impossible to 
find any thing greater than the humanity of the 
Lord and Saviour, except his own divinity, his own 
divinity, and nothing else, must be the altar, Did 
the altar support the gift or victim while it was burn- 
ing upon it ? It was the Godhead of Christ that sup- 
ported the manhood from sinking under these dire. 
fill sufferings he patiently endured. Did the altar 
sanctify the gifts that touched it ? It was the Deity 

* John vi. 57» t Matth. xxiii. 19. 



283 TYPICAL PLACES. 

of Christ that sanctified the gift of his humanity, and 
imparted a dignity and value to the sacrifice of 
his body and soul. The sins of many are fully ex* 
piated by the sufferings of one, because he is God, 
and there is none else ; besides him there is no 
Saviour. 

Blessed be God for such a High Priest ; such a 
temple ; such a sacrifice : such an altar of burnt-of- 
fering and incense. We have an altar, not only 
in the midst of the land of Canaan, but in the midst 
of the land of Egypt, to which the sons of the 
strangers may bring their sacrifices. We have an 
altar which God will never cast off, a sanctuary 
which lie will never abhor. The great atoning 
sacrifice is already offered up, what remains for us 
but to render vlnto a gracious God the calves, not of 
the stall, but of the lips, and sacrifice of praise con- 
tinually. 

SIXTHLY, THE ORDINANCE OF THE 
BRAZEN LAVER. 

THE divers washings injoined in the law of 
Moses, were no doubt a very significant branch 
of that ritual ©economy : for not only did the Hea- 
then nations adept this custom in their false worship 
of imaginary gods ; but a shadow of it is still retain- 
ed in the Christian baptism, ths initiating ordinance 
of the church. The daily lustration cf the LeviU 
ical priesthood, we shall presently glance at. 



The ordinance of the brazen Laver. 289 

At the entrance of the tabernacle of the congre- 
gation, before you come to the brazen altar, was 
set, by the appointment of the Lord, a pure vessel, 
or laver of polished brass. The materials of it were 
furnished by some religious women, who compli- 
mented their looking glasses for this purpose ; con- 
secrating these instruments, perhaps of vanity, to 
the sacred use oi adoring the worship of the true 
God. Though the shape of this vessel is not min- 
utely described by Moses, it .was certainly so con- 
trived, as the water it contained might be emptied 
by vents or pipes : for ihs priests were ordered, on 
pain of death, to wash their hands and feet at this 
laver when they went into the tabernacle, or ap* 
proached unto die altar. At first the washing-pot 
was probable of small size; but when Solomon built 
his magnificient temple, he made also alaverof large 
dimensions, which on account of the huge quantity 
of water it was capable to hold, was called a molten 
sea, and set it on a base of twelve oxen of brass, not 
without the direction of Heaven, as we may well 
presume. 

Dia the pure and "holy God intend by this law on- 
ly to require from his worshippers the putting away 
the filth of the flesh, which might be done with ma- 
terial water, and by such as had neither their hearts 
lif, nor their bands pure ? Is washing the body 
rest water, an adequate preparation for 
cominjr intb the presence of that God, in whose 
sight the heavens are not clean ? Far be it from us 

A a 



290 TYPICAL PLACES. 

to harbour so foolish a thought. The purification 
of the soul from spiritual pollution, was the thing 
intended by this carnal ordinance. The laver is 
Jesus Christ himself, who cleanses all the royal 
priesthood from the foul contagion of sin, by the 
word which he speaks unto them, by the Spirit which 
he sheds upon them, and by the blood he poured 
out for them. Was the laver a pure and cleanly 
vessel ? This may denote the innocence and spot- 
less purity of the glorious Immanuel, together with 
his fitness to preserve all that are in him holy and 
unblameable. Was it a large and capacious vessel, 
and therefore stiled a sea ? This may remind us of 
that vast and inexhaustible fulness which ever dwells 
in the New-Testament laver, £y which he is able to 
sprinkle many nations, and wash away the crimes 
of all who come unto God by him. Was it an open 
vessel, that stood in the most public situation ? A 
prophet stiles the blessed Redeemer, 4w a foun 
iC opened in the house of David, and to the inh 
u tants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for uncleanness ." 
Was it a consecrated vessel ? for Mcsts anointing 
the laver and his foot with the^holy anointing oil. 
Christ Jesus was consecrated for ever more to his 
saving office;, and anointed with the Holy Ghost in 
the most ample measure. Was it supported by 
twelve oxen in the temple of Solomon ? These bra- 
zen figuers, that looked to all the w ; nc's of hea\ en, 
jnay not absurdly be viewed as emblems of the 

* Z.ccb. xiii. I. 



The ordinance of the brazen Laver. 291 

twelve apostles, who bore Christ's name to the 
Gentiles ; who poured the doctrine of salvation in 
all the quarters of the world. For not only does the 
number of the oxen correspond to the number of 
the apostles of the Lamb ; but the servants of Christ 
are in other passages held forth under the emblem 
of these robust, laborious, and useful animals. 

But the use which the preists under the law were 
commanded to make of this vessel on all occasions, 
under the severest penalty, is the most remarkable 
circumstance we are to attend unto. They were to 
wash their hands and feet with the water of this 
vessel when they entered the tabernacle, on pain of 
death. These priests are figures not only of all 
office-bearers in the church, who ought to be pure 
and holy ; but of all the holy nation of Christians > 
who having a great High Priest over the house of 
God, ought to draw near with true hearts, and in 
the full assurance of faith, having their hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and their bodies 
washed with pure w T ater. It is true, they are wash- 
ed and justified already, in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by. the Spirit of our God : yet still they 
need to wash their hands and feet. The sins of daily 
walk demand fresh application to the laver of his a- 
toning blood, even from the holiest saints on earth. 
Faith is the hand by which this purifying water is 
applied to the conscience. Would we approach to 
God in holy duties ? would we ascend the hill of the 
Lord, and stand in his holy place ? then, in a spe- 



252 TYPICAL PLACES, 

cial manner, must we lay aside all filthinesS, and 
superfluity of naughtiness, resolving, with the 
sweet singer of Israel, " I will wash mine hands in 
4v innocency, and so will I compass thine altar, O 
" Lord* 55 But whoever they be that prefer the 
mire of their sin to the laver of his blood, think to 
wash away their stains with nitre and soap of their 
own righteousness, they shall die before the Lord, 
be excluded from his beatific presence, and become 
an abhorring unto all flesh for evermore. 

SEVENTHLY, THE ORDINANCE OF 
THE ANOINTING OIL. 

TN Jesus Christ we have also the antitype of the 
"*" legal unction, no less than of the divers washings 
and sacrifices, which is to be declared. The Jew- 
ish lawgiver is commanded, in a very particular 
manner, to take unto him of the principal spices, 
five hundred shekels of pure myrrh — half as much 
of sweet cinnamon, — five hundred shekels of cassia, 
—and half as much of sweet calamus. These pre- 
cious ingredients were to be compounded by the 
apothecary's art in a hin of olive-oil. The use of 
this holy oil was to anoint the tabernacle, and its 
furniture, and Aaron with his sons. But it was 
strictly forbidden to apply it to any other use, to 
put it upon any stranger, or to make any thing like 
it, after the coir. position of it. u This," said God 
M to the Israelites, shall be a holy anointing oil to 

• Fsal, axvi. 6. 



The ordinance of the anointing Oil. 293 

u me, throughout your generations*." Let us come- 
to the concealed mystery of this ordinace. 

Then was this type fulfilled, when the Lord's An- 
ointed was endued with the gifts and graces of the 
Holy Ghost, which God gave not by measure unto 
him. Hear what himself declares by the mouth of 
the prophet Isaiah, " The Spirit ©f the Lord is up- 
" on me, because he hath anointed met," And 
therefore are the deciples of Christ stiled Christians* 
because it is supposed they have also an unction from 
the holy One. 

Surely it is not without sufficient reasons, that 
anointing with oil, and receiving the the gift of the 
Holy Ghost, are- phrases of the same import in the 
language of inspiration. If oil is ofa healing nature, 
and fit to appease the anguish of rankled wounds, 
the Spirit of God is that mollifying ointment, by 
which the wounds, and bruises, and putrefying 
sores, occasioned by the fall, are gradually healed, 
until at last the cure is so completely wrought, that 
not a scar remains. If oil is of a beautifying qual- 
ity, and makes the human face to shine ; by the 
benign agency of the sanctifying Spirit our souls are 
made as the wings ofa dove covered with surer, and 
are presented at last in presence of his glory, with- 
out spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. If oil is 
savoury to the taste, imparting jp other esculents an 
agreeable flavour ; without the Spirit what is the 
word itself but a dry morsel? but when he sheds his 

* Exod. xxx. $U t Is. Ixi. i. 

A a 2 



294 TYPICAL PLACES. 

kindly influences, then do we find the word and eat 
it ; it is to us the joy and rejoicing of our heart. If 
oil is of an exhilarating virtue, greatly refreshing the 
animal spirits of them who are anointed, this puts us 
in mind of the reviving operations of the Comforter, 
who is the Holy Ghost, the true oil of gladness 
whose fruit is joy and peace. In the same manner 
we-might apply the strengthening, softning, preserr- 
*ng. insinuating properties of this staple commodi- 
ty of Canaan, to the like operations of the divine 
Snirit. 

But let us rather reflect upon the special qualities 
of the holy anointing oil, which Moses made accor- 
ding to the divine dispensatory. It was compound- 
ed of various costly ingredients ; to represent, per- 
haps, the great variety of heavenly gifts and graces* 
which are conferred by the Spirit of the Lord, and 
the diversities of his operations. — It shed a most 
delightful prefume, even to a proverb, when poured 
on the head of Aaron. Of a greater than he it is 
said, ct All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes 
" and casi-ia*:" and again, u Because of the savour 
" of thy good ointments, therefore do the virgins 
" love theet." — The quantity which Moses made 
was considerably large, and sufficient to anoint both 
the priests, the tabernacle, and all its sacred ves- 
I Is. May not this faintly adumbrate the fulness of 
the Spirit, by whicn he is able, not ' only to anoint 
( „ i -great High Priest, tut likewise all the sancti- 

• Psal- ilr. 8. f Song i. 3. 



The ordinance of the anointing Oil. 295 

4ed vessels that are made meet for the Master's 
use ? It was unlawful to make any thing like it ; a .id 
the Jews affirm, with great probability, that it 
was never but once prepared; though they fabulous- 
ly add, that it wasted not by use for many genera- 
tions. This may denote how displeasing it is to 
God to counterfeit his holy Spirit ; and we are to 
try the spirits, whether they be of God, so in all 
generations there is but one Spirit, as there is one 
body mystical, and one hope of our calling. — The 
prohibition of putting any of it on a stranger, may 
signify, that the spiritual unction is the peculiar 
privilege of saints, which, to use the expression of 
our Lord, the world cannot receive. And, Ikstly 
as this anointing oil did sanctify the persons and 
things to which it was applied, consecrated them 
for ever to the service of God, and entitled them to 
his protection : so the happy souls who have receiv* 
ed not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who it 
of God, are sanctified in the name of the Lord Je, 
gus, and by the Spirit of our God, are seabd unto 
the day of redemption ; and the unction th^y have 
received, abideth in them. Because of this anoint* 
ing, their yokes shall be destroyed. " Touch not 
u mine anointed, ye enemies of their salvation,** 
will the Lord say, " and do no harm to my peculiar 
people ." Let others drink wine in bowls, and 
anoint themselves with the chief ointments ; but 
give us O Lord, this holy oil for evermore. 

• Psal. cv. 15. 



396 TYPICAL PLACES. 

IV. THE LAND GF CANAAN. 

THE land that flowed with milk and honey, de- 
serves a particular consideration among the 
other shadows of good things to come. God prom- 
ised to the fathers of the holy nation, " I will give 
" you the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance, 
M whe^i they were but a few men in number, yea, 
u very few, and strangers in it*." This promise he 
performed to their posterity at the appointed time, 
when, under the conduct of Joshua, he drove out 
the Heathen, and planted them. But was this all 
which God provided for his people ? Was the prom- 
ise of an earthly inheritance, the blissful hope that 
supported the believing patriarchs in the few and 
evil days of their pilgrimage ? Was there no other 
rest remaining for the people of God, but that which 
Joshua gave them ? Then indeed they had been, 
upon the whole, considerable losers by their reli- 
gion, and God would been ashamed to be called their 
God. It is true, the earthly Canaan was adelicious 
country, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and 
deeps, that sprang out of the valleys and hills ; a land 
where they did eat butter of kine, and milk of sheep, 
fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and 
goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat ; they did 
drink the pure blood of the grape : — a land whose 
rich soil produced whatever could fill the cup of joy, 
or load the board of plenty. But, abs ! what cru- 

* Gcr. xii. 7. Psal. cv. 1 x. is. 



THE LAND OF CANAAN. «# 

el mockery had it been to propose no subllmer enjoy- 
ments than these to the lovers of his biessed name ? 
Are such things an adequate portion to the immor- 
tal spirit in man? Besides, the patriarchs themselves 
sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange 
country, and had not so much as a grave to call their 
ewn till bought with money. And their posterity, 
the people of his holiness, possessed it but a little 
time. What was the language of all this ? D d it 
notproclaim, inloudestaccents, both to the patriarchs 
and their seed, u Arise ye, and depart ; for this is 
" not your final rest?* I have provided for you,0 my 
H people, a belter heavenly country ,t of which this 
pleasant land is but the pledge & shadow." Beyond 
all doubt, the g< dly partriarchs regarded the promi*- 
ed land in this amiable light : and it is hard to im« 
agine how Mi se , that wise and great lawgiver, 
could been so passionately desirous to see, before he 
died, that gocd land beyond Jordan^ if he had not 
considered i. as a pledge of God 5 s eternal rest. Lei 
us add to all this, the sublime encomiums that are 
every where bestowed upon Canaan^ in Moses, and 
the prophets. Surely there was nothing about that 
litde spot of earth to intkle it to such high elog'ums 
as " the glory cf all lands,;*: the pleasant land, }| aud 
" thy I in d O Immanuel. w § But when we view it 
as a type of the heavenly- inheritance, the propriety 
c- these grand epithets m liatejjr discovers itself* 
Let us see where . ees< a, lance lies. 

•Mic, ii 10. fHeb. xi»i6. {Ezi, xx,6. jjPs.CYi.24- §Isa. viii.5» 



298 TYPICAL PLACES. 

Canaan was a lana originally possessed by other 
nations, whom the Lord drove out for their wicked- 
ness. It is revealed in the scriptures, that the ce- 
lestial mansions were first inhabited by these once 
pure, but now apostate spirits, who, for rebellion 
against their eternal Sovereign, were driven out 
from God and bliss, and their places in heaven shall 
know them again no more. 

It was a land of amazing fertility. And such is 
the tender condescension of the heavenly Father 
as to describe, by earthly similitudes, that fulness 
of joy in his beatific presence, and all the rich vari- 
ety of spiritual and eternal blessings, The plenty 
of Canaan, where they did eat bread without scarce* 
ness, was ar emblem of the fatness of God's house. 
In heaven they shall not want any good thing that 
can be perfective of their natures, or conducive to 
thv:ir true felicity. There, to use the prophetic 
stile, u the mountains shall drop down sv, eu wme, 
" and the hills shall Sow with milk*." They shall 
not hunger nor thirst, for the tree of life forever 
hang, out his golden fruit, and the water of life for 
ev^r 1 oil its silver ^ : - 

I* was a pro nised long before 

the possesion was acti , : o the father of 

their na d thirty years before 

the law. Even so, life was promised to 

Christ, the I bet, not only antecedent 

to the good w ed, but before the world: 

a:.u though the Loid is not slack concerning his 

• Joel in. 18. 



THE LAND OF CANAAN. 299 

promise, yet we have need of patience, even though 
we have done the will of God, that we may inherit 
the promises. 

It was a land which their own righteousness could 
not merit, and which their own sword could not 
procure. Their induction into it is, in the strong- 
est terms, ascribed to the sovereign grace and out- 
stretched arm of God, who shewed to his people 
the power of his works, that he might give them 
the heritage of the Heathen. Should we vainly 
arrogate unto ourselves the honour of deserving, 
by our best works, our access to the heavenly inhe- 
ritance, there is one that condemns us, even Moses 
in whom we trust. Ci Speak not thou in heart," 
says that great lawgiver to his people, ^for my righ- 
4t teonsne >s the Lord hath brought me in to possess 
u this land. Not for thy righteousness, orthe upright- 
" n-jss of thine heart, dost thou go to possess it ; 
u for thou art a stiffs necked people."* Can any be 
go absurd as to affirm, that though the earthly in- 
heritance ceuld not, yet the heuvsnly inheritance 
may be merited by works of righteousness chat we 
have done? 

It was a l&nd to which they went through many 
hardships and difficulties, through floods, and wil- 
derness* s, ana legions of opposing iocs. They had 
both real and imaginary discouragements to grapple 
with. Even so the kingdom of heaven suffers vio- 
lence, and through much tribulation we must enter 

* Deut. ix. 4- 5- £• 






SOO TYPICAL PLACES. 

into it, though it be a purchased possession, and a 
promised inheritance. But as neither Sihon king 
of the Amcntes, nor Og king of Bashan, nor the 
formidable giants the ions of Anak, could hinder the 
Israelites from their promised rest; so neither shall 
the power of the enemy, however great and dread- 
ful, be retard the meanest saint, who takes 
unto him the whole arm ;u? of God, and with deter- 
mined r.rdour fights the good fight oi faith, and lays 
hold on eo ^ lie. 

It was a land which many despised, and through 
unbelief they came short of the promise, and their 
carcases fell in the wilderness. And many, alas! 
prefer the present pleasures of sin to all the ravish- 
ing pr< spects of eternity. Instead of seeking this 
better country all the days oi their life, it is the land 
which they abhor. 

It wat a land which the Israelites obtained n w t till 
Most s was dead. None are brought to heaven, till 
ifaev be dead to the law by the body of Christ. He 
is tjra true Joshua, or the Captain of salvation, who 
brings many .sens unto glory, and conducts them 
through ti*c Jordan of death, into the inheritance in- 
corruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. 

V. THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM, 
AND THE HOLY HILL OF ZION. 

BUT we must not forget thee, O Jerusalem, thou 
v c metropolis of Judea/o hat adjacent hill 
of Zion, the royal refiden e o^ David, where the 
temple also s^ood! Such glorious dungs have been 



THE HOLY CITY, &c. 301 

spoken of this city arid mountain, as can by no-means 
agree to them, when viewed only in the latter. It 
is long, very long, since Zion was ploughed as a 
field, since the palaces of Jerusalem have been lev- 
elled with the ground : " Go ye up upon her walls," 
said God to the victorious Roman army, u and take 
"away her battlements, for they are not the Lord's.* 
But still there is a spiritual Zion, on which the 
Lamb stands with his redeemed tribes; still there 
is a heavenly Jerusalem, to which the general as- 
fcemoiv ajid church cf the iirst-bora are said to 
hat should this spiritual Zion and heaven- 
ly Jerusalem be, but the militant and triumphant 
of Christ, of which the earthly Zion, and 
the worldly Jerusalem, were the shadow and type ? 
The old mount Zion was, equally with mount Sinai, 
amount that might he touched, being a corporeal 
substance : and the old Jerusalem was a city that 
might be razed to its foundations: but the true 
' Zion is a spiritual thing which cannot be touched ; 
and the new Jerusalem is a city that hath founda- 
tion, and never can be removed. 

There were hills more eminent than Zion, and 
towns more potent than Jerusalem ; yet no moun- 
tain or city makes so distinguished a figure in the 
sacred page. It was not the natural elegance of Zi- 
on and Jerusalem, nor the fortified situation of thi 
places, that could intitle them to such higheiogiums 
as are every where bestowed upon them by the in^ 

* Jer. v. 10. 

B b 



302 TYPICAL PLACES. 

spired penmen. It is true indeed, the beautiful 
situation of mount Zion, and the compact form of 
Jerusalem, which was comely to a proverb, deserv- 
ed their due praises ; and their strength, both of 
nature and art, was far from being despicable. It 
may be also affirmed, that the Holy Ghost intended 
a faint representation of the invincible strength, 
and spiritual beauty of the church, in the strength 
and beauty of these holy places. But the extraor- 
dinary regard which the great JEHOVAH w r as 
pleased to testify towards his holy hill of Zion, and 
his beloved city of Jerusalem, is the chief thing 
which exalted that little hill above the great moun- 
tains of the world, and ennobled that metropolis a- 
bove all other cities, however populous or magnifi- 
cent. Why do ye leap, ye high hills ? why do ye 
exult against the little hill of Zion, as if you were 
much superior to it? This is the hill in which God 
desires to dwell; the Lord will dwell in it for ever. 
This makes it a high hill ; a high hill as the hill of 
.an : this renders it the perfection of beauty, 
the joy of the whole earth. Exactly so, it is 
the distinguishing favour, and sovereign love of 
God, bestowed upon his church, that ennobles it 
beyond ull other societies, however inferior to them' 
in the beaut) r of earthly splendour, and worldly do- 
n*iin:on. Let us see then what are the marks of the 
divine regard to these sacred places, which render* 
cd them fit emblems of the real church in all ages. 



THE HOLY CITY, &c. SO# 

They were places where God set his King, and 
the thrones of the house of David. That illustrious 
monarch, who founded the long line of the Jewish 
kings, having rescued Jerusalem and Zion from the 
Jebusites by force of arms, fortified them, and made 
them the places of his royal residence. The spiritual 
Zion is the city of the greet King, that is, of Jesus 
Christ, who wen it out of the hands ox idolatrous 
Gentiles,- who boasted of their idols, though lame 
and blind* Christ is the true David, who indeed 
was signified by all the kings of Israel, his lineal 
successors, who had gained this notable victory ever 
the Gentile world ; and in those very places where 
superstition reigned, has built his church, feed his 
throne, and issued forth his righteous laws. 1^ it 
was a distinguishing privilege of the ancient Zioa 
and Jerusalem, to be the seat of a king ex Heaven's 
election, how greatly superior is the new Jerusalem 
and gospel Zion, in bringing the seat of the King 
of kings, who sits upon the throne, and has the key 
of David ! a Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of 

* Zion, thy King shall never perish, and great is the 

* holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.* 

They were places where God established his wor- 
ship, and to which the tribes of the Lord resorted, 
because of his house at Jerusalem. Here the voice 
of his praise was heard, and sacrifices came with 
acceptance upon his altar. Jerusalem was the city 
of Jewish solemnities ; and it is foretold by the 

* Isa. xli. 6. 



S04 TYPICAL PLACES. 

prophets, that the once hostile nations round about 
them, should pay them annual visits, and join in 
their holy festivals; yea, says the prophet Isaiah, 
i4 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath 
t4 to Sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before 
* the Lord of Hosts."* Now, it is evident, these 
high predictions were never accomplished in the 
earthly Zion and Jerusalem : yea, it is impossible 
they can be accomplished in their literal sense ; the 
nature of things forbids it. But to the spiritual 
Zion, and heavenly Jerusalem, they have been ful- 
filled, and shall be more and more accomplished : 
for this holy hill may be found in all places of the 
world, and we may come to the city of the living 
God without a pilgrimage. 

They were places for whose protection the divine 
providence has oftentimes awoke in a very extraor- 
dinary manner, Assembled kings have come with 
hostile design against these highly-favoured places ; 
but instead of executing their cruel purpose the joy- 
ful Israelites, after departure, upon the most narrow 
inspection ol their towers, palaces, and bulwarks > 
could not observe that any of them was battered 
down, or even defaced. This was not owing to their 
own strength, but to the presence of their God. But 
this glorious prerogative of being the peculiar care of 
Heaven is now transferred to the gospel-church, and 
all her true members. " The/ that trust in the Lord, 
lhallbc as mount Zion, that can neverbe removed."]: 

* Isa< lxvi. 23. J Psalm cxxr f 1. 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 305 

FIRST, The FEAST of TABERNACLES.* 

HHHE feast of tabernacles was one of the three 
■*" grand festivals, in which all the males of Is- 
rael appeared before God in Jerusalem. It began 
on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, which 
was four days after their mournful fast on the day 
of expiation, and was celebrated with all possible 
demonstrations of joy, and national gladness. It 
lasted eight days, and was the longest of all their 
solemnities; and the last day is called , in the New- 
Testament, the great day of the feast. L T pon this 
day, we are informed, " Jesus stood and cried, If 
Hi any man thirst, let him come untome, and drink," t 
alluding, as is commonly thought, to st ceremony 
they usually performed on that occassion with great 
pomp, though it be not commanded in the law.t 

• The acceptable celebration ©f the following articles being 
fixed, by divine appointment, to Jerusalem, tbey are intro- 
duced here to explain and illustrate the great importance of 
that city as a typical place, though, in another view, they 
might rather appear to belong to the head of typical things. 

t John vii. 37« 

\ Tremellus, on John vii. 37. observes from the Talmud, 
that the Jews used, on tke eighth day of this »feast, to march 
round the altar seven times, singing Hosannab, with palm- 
branches in their hands, is memory of the Israelites, in the 
days of Joshua, their marching round Jericho seven times omthe 
day of its fall. And besides, he informs us from the same au- 
thority, that on this day they drew water with great joy front 
thebreok Siloam, at the foot of mount Zion, carried it to the 
priests in the temple, where they made a libation of it, mingled 
wine, upon the altar. In the time of drawing the water, they 
sung that cheerful ditty of the prophet Isaiah, " With joy 
« c shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." They 
pretended that the prophets, Haggia and Zechariab, were the 
mstitutors of these rites 5 and they imagined that the Holy 

B b 2 



306 TYPICAL PLACES. 

On all the eight days they were to offer the sacrifices, 
which are minutely condescended upon by Moses. 
On the first day, thirteen young bullocks, two radfcs, 
and fourteen Iambs of the first year, and one kid of 
Ae goats for a sin-offering, beside the continual 
burnt-offering. But it is worthy of our notice, that 
the bullocks diminished by one every subsequent 
day, till on the seventh day, but seventh were to be 
offered ; and upon the eight and last, though the 
great day of the feast, they offered but one bullock. 
Did not God intend, by this gradual abatement, as 
the solemnity advauced, to exhibit unto his people 
a representation of the decaying nature of that dis- 
pensation they were under; that a time should corns 
when these sacrafices should vanish away together, 
and give place to more spiritual obligations, which 
should please the Lord better than any bullock that 
has both horns and hoofs ? 

But the ceremony that gave the name to this joy- 
ful feast was their dwelling in booths the first seven- 
days. These booths were made of olive branches, 
pine branches, myrtle-branches palm-branches, wil- 
lows of the brook, and branches of other goodly 
trees, they cut down, and carried about in their 

Ghost was SO delighted with their carnal mirth and vocife ration, 
us to impart to them, on this occasion, a prophet r. f .u* ; 

Tvh'ch happened, they *av, to tiv^ prop'- ie 

Writer observe:, that as the Je.vs bad miser- verted this 

nance, by the addition of tl J ceremonies ; 

so Christ inter mad vocifera- 

tion':, w'rn he ■ a I them, away 

from the ten ater fco r of Hfe, and to himself the 

etil) | . '.-, aikl of aii other ceremonies. 



i 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 307 

hands. And that none might he at a loss to know 
the meaning of this ordinance, it is expressly de* 
slared by God himself, "That your generations may 

* know that I made the children of Israel to d 

* in booths, when I brought them Up out of the land 
" °f Egypt*." So prone are huraan minds to bury 
in oblivion those mercies that are past, that such re-* 
memorative institutions have been always held ne- 
cessary and expedient. And surely the divine pow- 
er and goodness displayed to the forefathers of the 
Jews, in miraculously providing all necessary ac- 
commodations for them in a desolate wilderness, de- 
served anniversary celebration, no less than their 
Exodus, or departure from Egypt. By this glad 
feast, theypraised God forthat good land into which 
he had brought them. u Ourancestors,"asif they had 
said, " once wandered in the wilderness, in a soli- 
u taay way, they found no city to dwell in . But O 
u that men would praise the Lord for his goodness I 
m he led them forth by a way that was right, to go to 
a a city of habitation. Instead of these dreary pros- 
•* pects our fathers had in the wilderness forty years 
« c we, their posterity, are introduced to this delicious 
i<f country, where we sow fields, and plant vineyards, 
u that yield us fruits of increase, whose rich and 
u generous soil supplies us with these goodly trees, 
tt from whence we pluck these verdant branches t." 
And we may add, with great probability, that their 
dwelling in booths so many days every year,, was a 

* Lev. xaiih 43* f Psal. cvii. 



308 TYPICAL PLACES. 

solemn recognition, that they were still in a wander,, 
ing state, though settled in Canaan ; that they look- 
ed on themselves as strangers on the earth, even in 
the land of promise, as the patriarchs, From whom 
they sprung, confessed, by dwelling in tents and 
tabernacles in this same land j that they were but 
pilgrims here, and expected a better heavenly in. 
heritance. Truly this has been the universal ac- 
knowledgment of good men in every age, who have 
esteemed their felicity to arise, not so much from 
their present enjoyments, as their future prospects* 
They have not only counted themselves pilgrims and 
sojourners, when struggling with adversity, and 
wandering from one country to another, without a 
fixed abode ; but when elevated to the very summit 
of fortune, and enjoying the most profound repose 
which this terrestrial state affords. A tabernacle is 
the common appellation of a dwelling-place, in the 
Old-Testament ; and in the New-Testament, the 
body, in which the soul is lodged, is stiled by 
the great aposde, the earthly house of this taber- 
nacle ■,* which is dissolved by death, and resigns 
to a more permanent house, a building of God, 
eternal ia the heavens. David, a glorious king, 
called his palace the tabernacle of his house ;t and 
Jesus Christ, when he lived on the earth, at least 
after he began to act in his public character, had no 
home, but chose tobe sometimes with one, and some- 
times another of his followers. Whatever other rea- 

• Cor. y. U \?i*\* exxxii. 3. 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 309 

sons mightbe assigned for this conduct of our Lord, 
it seems as if he bad designed to exhibit to all his 
genuine disciples, an illustrious example of superi- 
or indifference to all sublunary things, and to incul- 
cate, in the strongest 03 : their minds? 
"Arise ye, t; is not your rest.*" — 
Set not your el y people, on this trans- 
itory scene of things ; r€ >er the glorious hopes 
you entertain of adm i :o the celestial man- 
sions, and learn of me not to regard this world as 
your home. Then Co we keep the feast of taber- 
nacles in a spiritual manner, when we raise our ar- 
dent hopes to those glad regions where God our Fa- 
ther, where Christ our elder Brother, and all the 
holy saints, and blessed angels, inhabit for ever- 
more ; when we view these earthly mansions, and 
even the grave itself, as but our short home, and 
places of transient residence, in comparison of eter- 
nal habitations. 

But the feast of the tabernacles seems chiefly to 
be a figure of that holy joy, and spiritual gladness, 
which is. both the duty and privilege of the true cir* 
cumcision, who worship God in the spirit. It is 
long since this solemnity was discontinued ; for God 
has made all their feast-days to cease ; and there is 
no warrant in the scriptures for us under the Chris- 
tian ceconomy, to revive this ceremonial ordinance. 
But still we have the substance of this shadow, and 
ought to keep this feast, though not in a carnal man* 



310 TYPICAL PLACES. 

tier: for a prophet of the Jews* foretells the conver- 
sion of the Gentiles, in phrases which evidently im- 
port, that these joyful rites are figuret of gospel- 
worship. The Christian joys, both in the present 
and future life, seem to have been prefigured by this 
Jewish festivitv. 

It began soon after the sorrowful day ©f expia. 
tion, in which they sifEicted their souls, and had % 
lively representation of the great atonement. Ex- 
actly so, the Christian joy treads upon the heel of 
godly sorrow ; and it is the prerogative of the high 
and lofty One, to revive the spirit of the humble 
and the heart of the contrite one. The bloody 
death and meritorious sufferings of the great Sacri- 
fice, i$ the source from whence it springs. It is 
strange, but certain, the sinner's unspeakable joy- 
arises from the Saviour's unutterable wo. "Well 
fnay they keep a feast of tabernacles, who have re- 
ceived the atonement by Jesus Christ: well may 
they shout for joy, whose iniquity is pardoned, 
whose transgression is covered, and to whom the 
Lord will not impute sin ; for though he was angry 
with them, his anger is turned away. 

And this solemn feast lasted eight days, the 
Christian's joy is not like the joy of the hypocrite 
but for a moment : for it should be perpetuated 
through the whole course of his life. "Rejoice ev" 

• Zech, x:v. if. " And it skall come to pass, that every 
tX one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusa- 
c< lem, shall even go np from y«ar to year, to worship the King, 
»* the Lord of htst, and to ke«p the feast of tabernacles, &c. 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. Sit 

6i ermore,*" is a New-Testament precept perpetu- 
ally obliging. There are times when carnal mirth 
may be very unseasonable, and highly improper ; 
but what should forbid that joy in the Holy Ghosts 
which is the gladness of his nation, to be indulged 
at all times? It is a joy that may exist in the same 
soul, together with the most unfeigned sorrow, and 
most lively contrition. It may even comport with 
the most afflicted state in this world, and abound in 
the greatest of tribulations. It is a continual feast> 
which the unparallelled afflictions of Paul were not 
capable of interrupting^ Job could say, " Blessed 
" be the name of the Lord ? t" in the most complicat- 
ed distress. And "though the fig -tree should no| 
ia blossom, though fruit should not be found in the 
" vines, though the labour of the olive should fail, 
** though the fiOck should be cut off from the fold, 
u and there should be no herd in the stalls ;" it was 
the firm resolution of Habakkuk, u Yet will I re* 
" joice in the Lord, and be glad ia the God of my 
" salvation. £" 

However, it must be owned, the feast is kept 
here but imperfectly. V/e are in heaviness through 
manifold temptations, and must not expect to have 
all tears wiped away in a place of sin and sorrow. — 
The principal celebration of this festival is in heav- 
en, where alone there is fulness of pure unmixed 
joy. In comparison of this blessed state, how im- 
perfect is the present ! It may be resembled to the 

* i Tiiess, v, i6, f Job i, 21. J Rab, iii. 17* 18. 



312 TYPICAL PLACES. 

sorrowful day of expiation, that preceded this joy- 
ful leas*:. But as the Jews of old, for one day of 
sorrow bad eight days of gladness, so momentary 
affliction shall there give place to everlasting joy, — 
The beloved apostle describes the heavenly state in 
allusion to the ceremonies of this feast: " And I 
* beheld, andlo, a great multitude, which no man 
" could number, of all natiors, and kindreds, and 
" peopL lid tongues, stood before the throne, and 
<; before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.*" — 
And as the Jews were wont at the feast of taberna- 
cles, they had palms in their hand, aad sung with a 
loud voice the great Hosaunah. 

SECONDLY, THE FAST OF ANNIVER- 
SARY ATONEMENT. 

UPON the tenth day of the seventh month, 
(a month distinguished in the Jewish rubric 
for the great number of festivals observed ^-i it.,) 
the whole body of the people of Israel were re- 
quired to keep a solemn fast to afflict their $6ul$ for 
sin, and to abstain from all manner of servile work. 
But the chief solemnities of the day consisted in 
those rites by which the high prie t was to make a- 
tonement for the sins of his nation ; which rites 
were never practised but upon this occasion. \\ 
ever our great High Priest has done for the salva- 
tion of his people in earth beneath, or in heaven a- 
bovc, v.- a prefigured in these venerable solemnities. 
• Mr* vii. 7- 



THE FAST, &c. 2U 

This the inspired writer to the Hebrews having at 
length illustrated to our hand, it will not be necessa- 
ry to enlarge upon it. Let it suffice briefly to enu- 
merate the sacerdotal actions reserved for this mem- 
orable day, and then to hint at their typical sense. 

How then was the Jewish high priest to equip 
himself for the service of the day ? He was to put on 
his holy linen garments alter washing himself. He 
was to furnish himself with a bullock for a sin-offer- 
ing, and a ram for a burnt-offering, to be offered for 
his own sins, and the sins of his family. He was 
also to take of the congregation two kids of the goats 
for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, 
One of the goats was, to beofferedunto the Lord after 
the manner of a sin. offering ; the other presented 
alive before the Lord, and then dismissed into the 
wilderness. The sacrifices being prepared, he pro- 
ceeded in the following manner. First, he killed 
the bullock, to atone for himself and family ; and 
taking in his hand a censer full of burning coals from 
off the altar, and a quantity of sweat incense suffient 
to raise a cloud that should cover the mercy-s^at^ 
taking also the blood of his bullock in a vessel, he 
went into the sanctuary, set the incense on fire, and 
sprinkled the blood upon and before the mency-seat* 
The sacrifice fofthimself being thus performed, he 
returns out of the sanctuary, and kiiis the goat of 
the sin-offering for the people; and bring ng his 
blood again w'uhin the vail, he sprinkles it, as he 

jhad done with the blood of the bullock^ upoa jggp 

C c 



31* TYPICAL PLACES, 

mercy-sent, and likewise upon the golden altar.*-* 
u And,'' said the lawgiver of the Jews, " there shall 
¥ be no man in the tabernacle, when he goeth in to 
• make an atonement in the holy place, until he come 
"out,"* The next ceremony is this ; he brings the 
live-goat, and laying his hands upon the head of the 
creature, confesses over him all the iniquities of the 
children of Israel, putting them upon the head of the 
goat, and sends him by some fit man into the wil- 
derness; " And the goat," said ihe Lord, u shall 
* 4 bear upon him all the iniquities of the children of 
" Israel, into a land not inhabited."t This done, 
he goes into the tabernacle of the congregation, and 
stripping himself oi his linen garments, he deposits 
them in the holy place, washes himself, puts on hi$ 
golden garments for glory and beauty, comes forth 
to the people, and offers the tw T D rams for a burnt' 
offering, the one for himself, and the other for the 
people. Lastly, the fat of die sin-offering is burnt 
upon the alter, and the bodies of the bullock andi 
goat, whose blood had been carried into the holy 
place, were^burned without the camp. 

Such is the order of the holy rites to be practised 
on this great anniversary ; and the happy effects of 
it are said to be a cleansing from all their sinsX*—* 
Jsow, it is evident these carnal ordinihees have ma- 
ny marks of weakness and imperfection. If we 
%\ cak oi real juonement, it was utterly impossible 
:nat die blood of these bullocks and goats could take 



THE FAST, &c. 31ff 

§iii away as pertaining to the conscience. They 
were but brute creatures, of inferior nature to the 
priest that offered them, and to the people fc>r whom 
they were offered. They were offered by a sinful 
man, who needed atonement for himself. They 
were offered year by year continually, and in them 
a remembrance was again made of sin every year* 
Now, if they could have made the comers to them 
perfect, would they not have ceased to be offered ? 
Most certainly they would : because that the wor- 
shippers once purged, should have had no more 
conscience of sin. In all these things the Priest of 
our profession has the pre-eminence. He needed 
not,' like Aaron and his successors, to offer for 
himself, being harmless and undefiled. He needed 
not to shed the blood of others ; for he was able to 
offer up himself. He needed not repeat his sacri- 
fice oftener than once, or suffer often from the found- 
ation of the world : for by one offering he hath for 
ever perfected all them that are sanctified. These 
necessary allowances being made, of the vast dis- 
parity between the type and Jesus Christ, we shall 
proceed to enumerate some of these grand evangel- 
ical mysteries that were enigmatically preached unto 
the Jews in the transactions of this day. 

That in future time a true and proper atonement 
should be made for the sins of Israel; or, to uec 
the stile of the prophet Zechatiah, that " God 
* would remove the iniquity of his land in one day ;"* 

* Zeeb. iji, 9. 



S16 TYPICAL PLACES. 

this seems to have been the leading doctrine held 
forth in all the sacrifices, but especially in those that 
were offered on this occasion. Yetalittle while, and 
God will exhibit a propitiation in the promised Mes- 
siah, who shall finish transgression, and make an 
end of sin, and perfectly do that vrill of God, which 
cannot be done by sacrifice for sin, and burnt-offer* 
ings. And how shall this great event be brought 
to pass ? How shall the Messias redeem Israel 
from all his iniquities. What shall he do ? What 
shall be done unto him ? How shall he begin ? and 
in what manner shall he finish the arduous work ? 
These questions may all be answered by these anni- 
versary rites. 

It was signified, that the great Maker of atone- 
ment should assume the nature of the persons for 
whom it should be made : for their high priest wds 
one of their brethren, and taken from among men. 
That when he should come into the world, to do the 
will of God, he should not make a splendid figure, 
nor array himself of all that glory of which he is 
truly possessed. For the high priest of the JeWs, 
upon the day of atonement, put not on at the first 
his best suit of apparel, but was content with the 
holy linen garments he wore in common with other 
priests. — That he should be constituted a public per- 
son, and represent a great number of individuals, 
in whatever should be done by him. For the high 
priest did not officiate in the garments which he 
commonly wore, but in these public robes that were 



.THE FAST, fee. 317 

the badges of his public character as the representa* 
live of the people. That the sins of all the re* 
deemed should be transferred upon him, and be. 
come his own by legal imputation. For all the ini- 
quities of the children of Israel were solemnly con* 
fessed over the head of the scape-goat, before he 
was dismissed into the wilderness.— That when 
thus charged with guilt, he should suffer the punish- 
ment of death, and his life be violently taken away. 
For the other goat, the bullock, and two rams* 
were killed for sin-offerings and burnt-offerings.— 
And u without shedding of blood was nofremission.*" 
That the blood of Jesus should be shed in a public 
manner without the gate. For the bodies of these 
beasts were burned without the camp,— —That he 
should, however, live, even when dead, as to his 
divine nature, and be a glorious conqueror of the 
grave by his resurrection. For the scape-goat^ 
which was the half of the sin-offering for the people, 
was not to be killed as the other goat. That he 
should, when the work of purging our sins was fin" 
ished, disappear on earth, enter within the vail of 
these aspectable heavens, into that happy place where 
God resides among the blessed angels. For when 
the high priest had shed the blood of the bullock and 
the goat, he went out of the sight of the Israelites* 
entering within th« vail, into that venerable apart, 
ment, where were the symbols of the divine pres- 
ence, and where JEHOVAH sat enthroned be*» 

• fieb. iji, 33. 

Cc2 



318 TYPICAL PLACES. 

tween the cherubims. That his most precious 

blood should be the key to open the everlasting gates, 
or should procure his welcome reception into the 
presence of God, For unless the high priest had 
offered up the appointed victims, he durst not have 
presumed to see the fece of God in the most holy 

place. That though the heavens should contaia 

him, and the world see him no more, he should 
still be carrying on his priestly work in. the presence 
of JEHOVAH. For when the Jewish priest en- 
tered within the vail, he perfumed the mercy-seat 
with incense, and sprinkled it with blood. Truly 
unless the high priest had gone into the holiest of 
all with his blood and incense, he had not discharg- 
ed the most glorious part of his work. If he had 
only offered the victims, and gone no further than 
the middle court, the inferior priests had been vnon 
a level with him ; for these things they did as well 
as he* So if Jesus Christ were still on earth, 
where he offered up himself ; if he had not gone to 
the Father, and retired from the view of men, he 
could not be a priest in the most eminent sense of 
the word, the most glorious part of his function 
were still to be discharged, and the resemblance be- 
twixt him and the Jewish high priest would be very 
lame and imperfect. But rejoice, O ye that believe 
on his name, and ye who make his atonement the 
principal basis of your comfort ; for we have a great 
High Priest, that wa once on earth, but is now pas- 
{&u iu;o the heavens, Jesijfi the Son of God, There: 



THE FfeAST, he. m 

tie appears as a Lamb as it had been slain, and 
stands with his golden censer, to offer up the in. 
cense of his intercession with the prayers of all 
saints, A time will ccnve, when the interposing 
vaii shall be drawn aside, and the great High Priest 
return, with sound of trumpet, to bless his expect- 
ing people, and absolve them 'from ah their iniqui- 
ties before an assembled world : ior a to them thalf 
4t look for him, he shall appear the second thna 
w without sn, unto sa|va$ig&" 

THIRDLY, the FEAST of FIRST-FRUITS 
' AND OF PENTECOST. 

A S it was the will of God, that his people 
**• -*■ should dwell alone, and be divided from all 
nations of the world by a wall of partition, till the 
Messias should come to pull it down ; so, besides a 
great number of other peculiarities, they must not 
plough, nor sow, nor reap, in the same manner as 
otherpeople. The rites with which they began and 
finished their harvest, are not unworthy of particu- 
lar notice. Besides the charitable regulation they 
observed, in not making a clean riddance of the cor« 
ners of their field, nor gathering any gleanings, nor 
returning to fetch a forgotten sheaf (for these were 
the perquisites of the poor stranger, the fatherless* 
and the widow) : they were commanded ' to begin, 
their harvest with offering to the Lord a sheaf of the 
first-fruits, and to end it in a holy convocation, ancl 
an offering of two loaves, with other solemnities 



MO TYPICAL PLACES. 

The beginningof harvest in the holy land, was ou 
the morrow after the feast of thepassover, when they 
presented their first-fruits unto the Lord, not only 
for the whole congregation, but, as it would seem, 
for every particular family. The form of words to 
be pronounced on this occasion by him that offered 
the first-fruits, is expressly recorded in the Jewish 
law ;* and the wise king of Israel inforces the obe- 
dience of this religious precept with thfe assurance 
of the heavenly benediction : " Honour the Lord 
M with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of fchine 
* increase : so shall thy barns be filled with plenty t 
il and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."t 
They were forbid to taste themselves the produce 
of the year, whether bread, parched corn, or green 
ears, till they had brought the appointed offering to 
their God, as an acknowledgement of his dominion, 
and expression of their gratitude. It seems to have 
been a significant ceremony, intended to revive that 
law of nature, that the all-bounteous Giver should 
be honoured with our first and best. And truly, the 
cbservance of this rule is not only injoined every 
where in the Mosaic ritual, but may be traced at 
high as the offering of the first martyr, who brought 
unto the Lord of the firstlings of his flock : whereas 
no such thing is observed of the first murderer, to 

• Deut. xxvi. 3. 5. " I profess this day, that I am come into 
*' the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for 19 
M give us. A Syrian ready to pcrisla wa$ my ftfjpr fee." 

t Pre*, iii. 9, io w 



THE FEAST, &c. S23 

whose offeringthe Lord had no respect. Besides, 
when he who crowned the year with his goodness, 
required a sheaf to be given him, it might impress 
upon their minds such momentous truths as these, 
tha: we can give nothing to God but what w r e first 
received from God; that what we present unto God* 
cannot be profitable unto him ; and that what he re- 
quires, is nothing to what he bestows. What is a 
single sheaf to all the treasures of the harvest! 
Would he not been a foolish Israelite, who should 
have regarded his puny sheaf as an equivalent or 
price that deserved at God's hand the rich produc- 
tions of the year ? Nor is it less absurd for any co> 
imagine, that their most useful actions can deserve 
the gift of eternal life, that jovful harvest of light 
that is sown for the righteous, and of gladness that 
is sown for the upright in heart, 

The endof harvest was upon the fiftieth day after 
it began. This day was solemnized with a religious 
assembling, and with abstaining from servile work* 
The husbandman had seen the fruits oi his ground 
brought to maturity, and testified his gratitude by 
the sheaf which he offered with holy rites, upon the 
first day ; and now he offers upon the fiftieth day; 
two large loaves of fine flour baken with le?ven r 
which are also called the first-fruits unto the Lord,* 
and were a thank-offering, as well as the sheaf, to 
that good God who had reserved for them the ap- 
pointed weeks of the harvest* On the beginning 

• Ley, sxiii, 17. 



323 TYPICAL PLACES. 

of Pentecost, they offered with the sheaf a lamb 
without blemish for a burnt offering : but now their 
gratitude must rise in proportion to the favours they 
receive, and not one lamb, but seven lambs, one 
young bullock, and two rams, must smoke upoa 
God's altar. 

We are informed by the historian of the NeW 
Testament, that this fiftieth day coincided with th e 
most remarkable event of the descent of the Holy 
Ghost upon the first founders of Christianity.— 
4C When the days of Pentecost were fully come, 
" they were all with one accord in one place : and 
€i suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a 
u rushing mighty wind : and there appeared unto 
" them cloven tongues, as of fire, and sat upon each 
€i of them; and they were ail filled with the Holy 
u Ghost, and began to speak with tongues, as the 
44 Spirit gave them utterance."* By inspecting the 
history of the Israelites march from Egypt, it will 
also be found, that upon this very day the law was 
given at mount Sinai. The conjunction of these 
two grand events on the last day of the Pentecost, 
seems not without some special intention in the Ho- 
ly Ghost. Fifty days after the 'deliverance from 
Egypt, was the killing letter, or the fiery law giv- 
en ; and fifty days after the resurrection of Christ* 
our better deliverance, was the quickening Spirit 
dispensed, to write the law not on hard tables of 
*tone, but on the fleshly tables of the heart, and t* 

• Acts. ii. I. 2. 3. 4. 



THE FEAST, 8cc. S2£ 

qualify the apostles to begin a new harvest, far more 
important than what was now happily finished ; a 
harvest not of corn, but of men, to be reaped fey- 
putting the sickle of the word of God into the field 
of the world. 

Such were the sacred rites with which the Jew* 
began and finished their harvest; and, in the Ian. 
guage of the New-Testament, whatever thing is the 
beginning, pledge, and earnest of more of the 
same kind, is stiled first-fruits. So the first-fruits 
of Achaia* denotes the most early converts to the 
Christian faith in that part of the world ; and those 
begun graces and consolations of the Holy Ghost, 
that are the earnest of the eternal inheritance, are 
denominated the first fruits of the Spirit. But we 
shall chiefly observe the application of this epithet 
to Christ, and to believers. 

" CHRIST," says the inspired apostle, "is risen 
" from the dead, 'and become the first-fruits of 
"them that sleep.*" May we not hence af- 
firm, that as the harvest is a natural emblem of 
he end of the world, and general resurrection . 
so the Jewibh first-fruits did represent the resur- 
rection of the Son of God. The bodies of the 
faints, when deposited in the grave, may be com. 
Dared to that seed which the husbandman com* 
n ts to the furrows of che field. One would ima- 
ne, that the grain once buried under the clod, 
■o'uld pever more emerge from under it. But 

« i C*r. *vi. ifc r Rom viii. %y f * Cor. *y. *<*, 



324 TYPICAL PLACES* 

constant experience assures us, that by the com* 
bined influents of vernal showers and suns, it will 
bur^f the confinement of the furrow, and leward 
the labourer's toil with copious fruit. So, at 
the destined hour, the sleeping dust vi saints shall 
revive as the corn ; the earth shall catt tonh her 
dead, and shall no more cover her slain ; and what 
was sown in dishonour, shall be raised in glory* 
The resurrection of the corn is an event in the 
world of nature that clearly proves the possibility 
of God's raising the dead. The resurrection of 
Jesus Christ advances further still, and evidently 
proves the certainty of our bodies arising from the 
dust. Thisjoyful event not only proclaims in loud- 
est accents, that the dry bones can live, if it s the 
pleasure of God to send forth his quickening Spirits 
but asserts, in the strongest manner, that u he will 
" revive us, he will raise us up, and we shall live in 
il his sight :"* Were the first-fruits reaped before 
-the rest of the harvest? So Christ the first-fr its 
was fii st raised from the grave, and afterwards they 
ih.t are Christ's shall be raised at his coming. 
Were the fi^st-fruks a plelge and earnest to the 
Israelites, that the who. harvest should be reaped 
in due time? The resurrection ol Jesas Ch isl in- 
sures the resurrection of all his people at the appointed 
season. So runs the joyful declarationin the prophet^ 
"1 hy dead shall live, together with my dead body 
"jihall they rise : awake & sing, ye that dwell in dust."t 



THE FEAST, &c. 325 

But as the first-fruits are an emblem of Jesus 
Christ, they no less represent the faithful, and the 
redeemed from among men. "Israel," says a pro- 
phet, "was holiness to the Lord, £hd the first-fruits 
14 of his increase.' 7 * And an apostle affirms, that, 
" of his own will we are begotten by the word of 
" truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of hia 
"creatures."! Let us see the resemblance, Thefirst- 
fruits were the unalienable property of the God of 
Israel, with which it had been sacrilege to intermed- 
dle. Even so, the redeemed are the portion of the 
Lord: they are not their own, and~all who devour 
them shall offend. The first-fruits were given by 
God to the priests, as a part of their maintenance. 
This puts us in mind of that saying of our High 
Priest, "Thine they were, and thou gavestthem 
me." J The first-fruits were but a small part of the 
harvest. This may denote the paucity of saints, 
who, in comparison of the multitude, are like a 
handful of corn in the earth. But, lastly, as the first, 
fruits did sanctify and bless the whole crop, and in 
their use were better than the rest. Even so, the peo- 
ple of God, though few and small, are the excellent 
of he earthy and a blessing in the midst of the land^ 
however much they may be undervalued by worldly 
men. 

* Jer. H. 3. t James i. iS. $ John xtM. t| 

D d 



326 TYPICAL PLACES. 

FOURTHLY, THE FEAST OF THE 
NEW MOONS. 

AS the feast of the New Moon is placed among 
the shadows of good things to come by the 
apostle of the Gentiles, we must not altogether pass 
over it. Though the begiuningof the seventh month 
was peculiarly sacred, the beginnings ol all the other 
months were also dedicated unto God, and solem- 
nized with holy rites and exercises of devotion. On 
their new moons they refrained servile work, offer- 
cd extraordinary sacrifices,* resorted to the proph- 
ets, feasted together, and biowed the silver trumj 
Let us try if we can assign the probable reasons of 
this service, or the moral instructions that may be 
learned from this statute urito Israel^ and law of 
the God of Jacob. 

And, first, Might it not be designed as an as- 
cription of praise and thanksgiving to that glorious 
Being, who suspended that silver lamp in the blue 
vault of heaven, that it might smooth the shades of 
night with its cheerful borrowed rays, turn the o- 
cean in its bed, divide our time, and serve the pur- 
poses of vegitation, as will as the golden ruler of 

* Tl e sacrifices for the new moon appointed in the Mosaic- 
lav/, are t ullockc, one ram. bs, &c Lev, 

xXV j]. 1 1 tel men ti oris but one young bullock, s^x iambs, 

^ n dn , kIvi. 6 t the church-state which 1 

ous than :a j * one« 

monial 1 iw « igned to be 

. ( rich 
' i -. . 12), but the sacrifu 
to E^ckiel), tberc is wade oi' necessity a 
- : the law. 



THE FEAST OF NEW MOONS. 327 

the day ? They acknowledged, by this festival $ 
that God who is above, Was the prime mover of 
this, and other heavenly luminaries ; that to him 
they were indebted for all the beneficial effects of 
these excellent creatures. Had they intended to 
address their homage to the host of heaven them- 
selves, and not to him who formed them by the 
breath of his mouth, they would no doubt have ra- 
ther blown their trumpets to the rising sun, or to 
the moon at her full, when she walks in brightness- 
But God, who is jealous of his glory, required that 
he should be praised for this good creature,not when 
she appears to her greatest advantage, but when she 
is either altogether invisible, or dimly seen, like aa 
inconsiderable streak of light. By this precaution 
none can suspect, but the sacred rites were in honour 
of him who " made the sun to rule by day, and the 
" moon to rule by night : for his mercy endureth for 
" ever."* 

Might it not also be intended as a solemn recog- 
nition, that God was the sole proprietor of their 
times, which are wholly in his hand, and ought to 
be dedicated unto his service? The first days of their 
month might be offered to God for the same reasons 
as the first-fruits of their ground. Hereby they dis- 
claimed the superstition of the Heathen, who were 
dismayed at the s'gns of heaven, and esteemed some 
parcels of their time ill-fated or unlucky. As every 
creature of God is good; so no time is evil, being 
* Psalm cxxxvi. 8, 9. 



328 TYPICAL PLACES. 

sanctified by the same word of God, and prayer. 
If the first-fruits be holy, so is the lump ; and if tha 
first day of every month be holy, the subsequent 
days are consecrated by it. 

But chiefly, as one is apt to look for some notices 
of the Messiah in all the legal ordinances, might 
not this monthly festival, and especially the feast of 
trumpets in the seventh month of their civil, but first 
of their sacred year, be viewed by them as a faint 
shadow of the future renovation of all things by Je- 
*us Christ ? Though we must not be bold in fixing 
©ur own conjectures upon the Holy Ghost* as his 
undoubted meaning, there seems, however, to be 
a considerable likeness betwixt the blowing of the 
trumpet at the new moon, and the voice both of the 
gospel and the archangel. 

First, It might perhaps be a figure of the new 
face the church should wear in the age of the Mes * 
siah. In other places the universal church is com* 
pared to the moon, and the preaching of the gospel 
is resembled to the blowing of a great trumpet.-— 
What though we should consider the old moon a& 
an emblem of the Jewish oeconomy, which, like that 
waning. orb, decayed, waxed old, and vanished a- 
way. But the Christian dispensation may be com- 
pared to the new moon, which, small at first, did 
gradually increase, while the sound ot the gospel- 
trumpet, the voice of our great High Priest, did go 
into all the earth, and his words unto the end of the 
world. Who knows but the believing Jews might, 



THE FEAST, &c. 329 

by this feast,express their faith and joy in that- happy 
revolution, which the apostle calls, " the abolishing 
44 in his flesh the enmity, even the law of command- 
44 merits, contained in ordinances, to make in him- 
44 self, of twain, one new man ?' ; * 

Or, lastly, May we not discern, in this monthly 
festival, a shadow of the awful transactions in the 
great and terrible day of the Lord; which shall, 
however, be a joyful period to all true Israelites^ 
and the time of the restitution of all things ? This 
visible world itself may be resembled to a waning 
moon, as the fashion of it passes away. Butasthenew; 
moon succeeded the old, while the priests did blow 
with their trumpets ; so when the last trumpet shall 
sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
the living shall be changed ; this corruptible shall 
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on im- 
mortality. Then shall that blessed state commence, 
when, according to the sublime prophet, u Thy sun, 
44 O Zion, shall be no more thy light by day, neither 
44 for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee I 
44 but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting 
44 light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no 
44 more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw 
44 itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting 
44 light, and the days of thy mourning shall be 
44 ended."t 

* Eph, ii. 15, f *sa. Ix, 19. ao* 

D d2 



SSO TYPICAL PLACES. 

FIFTHLY, THE METAPHORICAL 
PRIESTHOOD OF ALL CHRISTIANS. 

ALTHOyGH the Levitical priests were chief- 
ly designed to prefigure the great High Priest, 
as has been said, this hinders not to view them also 
as emblems of all the saints, who, in every age, are 
caused to approach unto God, that they may dwell 
in the house of the Lord for ever. It is true indeed* 
the great propitiatory sacrifice is already offered, 
never to be repeated again; and we cannot sufficient- 
ly detest that sacrilegious usurpation of the Redeem- 
er's glory, by the pretended priests in the Roman 
church, who, without any the least warrant from 
the sacred oracles, give out to their deluded vota-» 
ries, that they offer in the mass, I know not what 
unbloody sacrifice, for the sins of the living and he 
dead* O impiety 1 O absurdity ! for can any thing 
be more wicked and foolish, than to imagine that 
Jesus Christ has not, by his one offering, for ever 
perfected all them that are sanctified, but left hi* 
work to be completed by a wretched, mumbling* 
mortal priest ? We Christians must acknowledge, 
that all priesthood, in the strict literal sense, is now 
ceased in Christ the end of the law. But still there 
is a metaphorical priesthood, which the New-Tes- 
tament ascribes, net to the office-bearers in the 
Christian church, but to all Christians without ex- 
ioil. It was the promise of Cod to his ancient 
jpepple, that "they should be unto him a kingdom of 



The Metaphorical Priesthood, 8te. SSI 

u priests j*" and the phrase is adopted by a New- 
Testament apostle, who says, to the whole body of 
the believers to whom he wrote, " Ye are a royal 
a priesthood. t" It was foretold by the holy proph- 
ets, that men should call the professors of the true 
religion, the priests $f the Lcrd 9 and the ministers §f 
our God\ ; — that the Gentiles should be taken for 
priests and Levites ; — that the priestly tribe should 
have an offspring numerous as the host of heaven^ 
and the sand of the sea ; — that in every place which 
the rising and setting sun surveys, incense and a 
pure offering should be offered to the true God.— 
These great and precious promises have already 
been, and still more shall be fulfilled. The compa- 
ny of the redeemed were seen by John in vision ar- 
rayed in white robes, the badge of their priestly 
character : and he heard their heavenly song of 
praise to that loving Saviour that washed them from 
their sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto God. Though the analogy of the 
legal and metaphorical priesthood may not perhaps 
be so striking as betwixt Aaron and Christ Jesus 
there is not wanting a considerable resemblance. 

Were the Levitical priests chosen by God, and 
separated to his peculiar service I God hath chosea 
the faithful from the rest of mankind, and set apart 
him that is godly for himself. Were they taken m 
the room of the first-born of all the tribes, to whom;, 
the right of priesthood seems to have originally be- 

• Excd* xix, 6. f i Pet, ii. 9, £ Isa. IkL & 



332 TYPICAL PLACES. 

longed ? The peop'e of Christ are the general as- 
sembly and church of the first-born, as all God's 
children are. Were they all descended from Aaron 
and Levi ? (for unless they could prove their geneal- 
ogy, they were put from the priesthood as polluted.) 
So all the saints are descendents from Jesus Christ, 
their everlasting Father, and ought to ascertain their 
heavenly extraction by the documents of a holy con- 
versation. They were washed with water at their 
consecration, and were always to use the great laver 
that stood in the entry of the tabernacle, when they 
ministred in the sanctuary. This puts us in mind of 
the washing of regeneration that all Christians par- 
take at first, and of the frequent recourse to the foun- 
tain of Christ's blood in their holy service. The 
oil that anointed them, signified the unction of the 
Spirit, which the faithful receive from the holy One. 
The white garments of fine linen, are an emblem of 
the righteousness of the saints. They were not al- 
lowed a share of the earthly Canaan, as the other 
tribes ; for the Lord spake unto Aaron, " Thou 
u shalt have no inheritance in their land, nor have 
" any part among them : I am thy part, and thine 
Cl inheritance.*" Was not this a lively type of the 
superior privilege of his beloved, who are deliver- 
ed from the men of the world, who have their 
wretched portion in tins ti ry life ? But the 

Lord is the. on, and therefore in him they 

may hope, be their outward state ever so indigent* 

• NuuiIl xY*i:i. 30, 



The Metaphorical Priesthood, &c. 33$ 

The ceremonial purity required of them that bore 
the vessels of the Lord, denotes, that holiness be- 
comes the house of the Lord for ever, and all who 
worship in his temple. 

But what are their sacrifices ? Let an apostle 
speak this ; they are " spiritual sacrifices, accepta- 
" ble to God by Jesus Christ.*" Perhaps we might 
say, to use the legal stile, there is the meat-offering 
of charitable distributions ; the drink-offering of 
penitent tears issuing from a broken contrite heart ; 
the heave-offering of prayer and elevated de&ires ; 
the peace-offering of praise and thanksgiving ; and 
the whole burnt-offering of the whole man, wheri 
the body is presented unto God a living sacrifice, 
when every lust is mortified, and the very life sur- 
rendered for the honour of God in martyrdom, 
which sometimes is a reasonable service. These 
are the sacrifices which all the saints should offer, 
not to an imatoned, but to an atoned God. They 
themselves are their temples ; and, besides, they 
have access by faith into heaven, the holiest of all. 
Christ is their altar, that sanctifies all their gifts. 
His Spirit is the fire that inflames, and his merit is 
the salt that powders all their sacrifices, when they 
come with acceptance before the presence of JE- 
HOVAH. 

* i Pet. ii. 5. 



THE CONTENTS. 

Part i. ypi§al Persons. 

Page 

I. Christ and Adam compared, - - - - 5 

II. The History of Noah, 13 

IK The History of Melchizedec, - - - 20 

IV. The History of Isaac, ----- 28 

V. The History of Jacob, ------ 37 

VI. The History of Joseph, ----- 46 
VII. The History of Moses, ----- 54 

yill. The Ordinance of the Priesthood, - - 61 

IX. The History of Joshua, ----- 71 

X. The History of Samson, - - - - - 78 

XL The History of David, - - - - - 86 

XII. The His^ ory of Solomon, - - - - 93 
XIII. The History of Jonah, ----- 100 

Part 2* Typical Things* 

I. The Vision of Jacob's Ladder, - - 108 

II. The Vision of the Burning-Bush, - - 113 

ILL The Pillar of Cloud and Fire, - - 120 

IV. The Manna in the Wilderness, - - 128 

V. The Rock in the Wilderness, - - - 136 

VI. The Brazen Serpent, ------ 144 

VII. Thoughts on the Vail of Moses, - - 152 
VIIL O Bees, - ■ - - - - - « 160 

IX. The Ordinances of the Passover, - 173 

X. The Ordnance of the Scape-Goat, - - 179 

The Ordinance of the Red Heifer, - 187 

XII. The Ordinance of the Year of Jubile, 196 

XIII. The Law of the Leper, - - - - * 204 

XIV. The Law of the Near Kinsman, - 217 
XV. The Holy Nation of Israel, - - - - 223 

XVI, The Victory over the Nations of Canaan, 229 
XVII. The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah, - 233 



THE CONTENTS. 

Part 5* Typical Places, 

I. The Law of the Cities of Refuge, - - 241 
II. The Tabernacle in the Y/ilderness, - - 248 

III. The Temple of Solomon, - - - - 259 

1. The Ordinance of the Ark and Mercy-Seat, 264 

2. — Ordinance of the Golden Tab le, - 272 

3. — Ordinance of the Golden Candlestick, 276 

4. — Ordinance of the Golden Altar, - - 280 

5. — Ordinance of the Brazen Altar - - 284 

6. — Ordinance of the Brazen Laver, - - 288 

7. — Ordinance of the Anointing Oil, - - 292 

IV. The Land of Canaan, --.-.- 296 
Y. The Holy City of Jerusalem, and the 

Holy Hill of Zion, - - - - - 300 

1. The Feast of TabernacL - - - - 305 

2. The Fast of Anniversary aent, - 312 

3. The Feast of First- Fruits and of Pentecost, 319 

4. The Feast of New Mooter, - •• - - 32(3 

5. The Metaphorical Priesthood of all 

Christians, ------ - * 3 30 






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